Life By the Sword
by Quentix Starwing
Summary: Aisha's consumation of love with her chosen in love, a feline male whose rigid ideals lead her to track him and break down the barriers to find the true passionate man that lay beneath the morals and tradition. Chap 23, the final chapter
1. Prologue, Life by the sword

Disclaimer: I don't own Outlaw Star, and the character Haomaru and others unknown are mine directly, Read and Enjoy everyone , please Review.

Life by the Sword: Neo Rebirth

Prologue: Fate's Twist 

They say that life is hard, that one won't get by living the old way. The way things change, technology being the biggest of all things to advance change can make lifestyles alter dramatically. The discovery that new species exist beyond earth; there were suddenly new opportunities, new kingdoms to deal with, and new greed to balance the good with bad. In this world you've got weapons of new that are flashy and new, guns and blasters, even new types of 'magic'; perverted by time's understanding of technology. Then the old weapons; rusting with time and collecting dust from no use anymore, there were few in the new age who use any of the old 'clumsy' weapons by standard with today's own.

They were nothing but relics, classics to be admired and held in a museum at some point for the elderly to look at and remember the old way; especially the more classic weapon known as the sword. The swords in this age were made of technology; bulky and clumsy rising at both ends, unlike their classic relatives which were built graceful and simple yet powerful. They say that life by the sword is simply a dream, but they all are wrong for I live by the sword. This is my story to you all now, the chronicles I will share with you, to show you what you miss. Now Open your eyes and let your mind dream as I tell you no, how the life by the sword truly is.

Always at the Spaceport, it's where the things went by and always happened quietly in the open if you can imagine that. Where scum could be scum and still be alright, not to be killed or dismembered for simply being fools. There walking through the crowds, ignoring the glances that had come upon Haomaru as his Yukuta had drifted around his form, the material obviously stain resistant by one of the newer sprays, the technology had some use; such as making the old more resistant to things of the common era. A single thought passed through the estranged feline's mind as he had stepped into the bar, "Petty pirates…some will fall." He spoke the words as if he could see the future; yet many predictions of simple knowledge often resulted in being true.

The Kei Pirates were scum, around flaunting their weapons and their connections to one of the more powerful organizations in the Universe known, lead by the ever powerful Tendo King which made many things more dangerous. Haomaru cared not for their connection, the life of the sword was a life or death on going and meeting fate with honor was all that was expected. He didn't expect any special treatment, nor did he expect anything…all in the movement of fate within his eyes. He could feel the eyes upon his form as he had walked to the bar counter, he knew the Kei pirates were looking at him and that they'd act on it. He had given off a faint sigh, more or less one of boredom at the knowledge of the fools coming at him now; for truth he could hear their every step.

" Well well well, look what we have here." the first pirate had spoken mockingly, while the second pirate had come to his other side, "Yes, does the kitty want some milk?" the corny joke elicted a few laughs while his comrades who had gotten up. The felinade warrior ignored them and had asked for some of the drink of his newest curiousity; soda. The pirates found it amusing, but as soon as one hand had grabbed his swishing tail his eyes perked. "Ohh Hit a sore sp-!" He hadn't another moment, soon the butt of the sword had slammed into the pirate's ribs hard. His foot had moved up afterwards and swept along the faces of the 5 pirates about him, it was all within a few microseconds that they fell back. He sat back down afterwards, while the pirates had gotten up and instantly his hand was at his sides calmly...he was ready.

"Damn bastard, you son of a bitch I'm gonna kick your ass." the other pirates got ready and the commoners in the bar had drawn back but continued socializing; it was going to get ugly now. The centered feline had given off a faint sigh and just as the Pirates were acting, he already had been in motion. He was a blur across the first man, his blade moving and dropping the first pirate in a spread of both blood and sparks from his semi-mechanical suit. "One chance scum, leave or perish." he said nothing else to them, they chose foolishly and the first moved, his blade swept across his body in a blur, so fast the pirate just fell and didn't realize it; he only blinked as he had gagged on his own blood.

The pirates fell so proudly like fools, simply quick as clock work it seemed; the last 5 standing paused until he had slipped his clean sword back into it's sheath and clicked once it had been returned to it's sheath did they all fall. "They chose foolishly." was all the feline said, as he had gathered up his soda and had sipped it now, looking out at the day as the authorities began coming. He had only finished and had disappeared into the bustling crowds as the authorities had come about to assess the situation. For all who are now new, Welcome to the Life by the Sword in the new world.


	2. Chapter: Unlikely Meeting of Destinies

Chapter 1: Unlikely Meeting of Destinies

With the Kei pirates defeated Haomaru had moved on from the scene with ease, he had moved into the crowds and evaded sight and with that capture by the planetary Authorities. "Bothersome…" was what the feline said as he had made his way down a busy street and while glancing over his shoulder; eye catching sight of the authorities, they arrived quickly and were more efficient than he had guessed. He made it his business to get out of sight, after all he wearing a sword and that was the weapon used to down the pirates. Making use of his kind's superior speed, he moved from the open public and had moved into the nearest establishment he had found off of the streets.

This action hadn't been the wisest in his mind but it had been what he was after; he was no longer in the public eye and seen as only another customer of the store he had walked into. He was surprised when he found himself greeted by a strangely dressed woman, what one would call a dress and apron-like garb "Intriguing…" the word passed through his mind as he nodded to her, she had mentioned something about being seated in the chair. As he was seated he had been observing the area as normal as he would anything, he caught sight of the food around in sight and then he realized something; just how hungry he really was. His stomach had growled and he had ignored it, the woman standing before him had spoken once more, "Your waitress will be right with you." She said with an enthusiasm that he could see was commercial for the business.

He had due to this time picked up his menu that was left behind and had quickly scanned over it to see if there was anything he might have found appetizing to eat. By Chance on the few pages that the restaurant had available; he smiled in some amusement and appreciation at the food he had seen "Just what I need, a taste of home." Said lightly afterwards, just mildly to himself. However this train of thought was to be broken by a sudden and rather obnoxious near-snort and strangely harmonious voice speaking, "Welcome, what're you having already?" the voice had seemed to ring through his mind first, as he looked up and had been stunned for a brief moment; the waitress was absolutely gorgeous but something about her-wait one moment. His eyes had almost rewound the scene in a moment of microseconds, for he quickly spoke what he wanted without question "Nyxian Tea and Nyx Dumplings" and then simple silence.

The waitress had been the famous yet unfortunately ill-lucked Aisha Clan Clan, proud representative of her people and bossy, boasting, and equally powerful C'tarl C'tarl woman who knock one senseless for speaking one thing down about her people. She had blinked with as quickly as he had reacted to her, efficient and smooth and no backtalk; unlike many of her prior customers. She had given a brief nod and went to go deliver the order, though she found herself glancing at the strange feline warrior who didn't look up from the table. "Probably just a brooding bastard, like the rest of these snobs." The thought rolled across her mind and she quickly forgot about the stranger and concentrated on work. As the order was whipped up in moments, she returned to the table and set the food down on it, "Here you go." She said trying not to sound to bored or annoyed like she was. As soon as the food was set down, he'd already begun eating and was not only neat but surprisingly fast.

Haomaru had observed the waitress looking at him, but his mind was simply on where he was going next. As she arrived at his table with the food, he simply took it and ate it neatly but quickly; appearing as if he simply ate fast was what was wanted. And soon within those following moments had he finished his food, he spoke shortly to her just as he had mentally planned ahead. She'd find out he knew just how to deal with a C'tarl C'tarl without insulting them "Thank you for the meal, Have a nice day." He walked off afterwards, no second words simply leaving the money and a fair tip for her to claim later.

Within the next moments Aisha was the worst thing she could be, confused about this stranger's actions. She had given a brief nod but found it all strange above all at how swift he was and without mistake; she glared after the stranger now as he disappeared out the door, something was off about him. She gave an audible growl and had looked up "Something's off about that, so damn neat and he left a good tip." In her eyes he'd committed one of the worse crimes someone could, catching her attention and intriguing her. She went straight after him, she was going to uncover his mystery here and now, he hadn't anything in this matter to say anymore. With her mind already preset she had moved through the front door with great speed, nothing chancing it she had swept to the stranger and grabbed his shoulder; quickly turning him to face her and speaking most sternly, almost mad by the sound of her voice "Who the hell are you!" it came off accusatory.

Haomaru had blinked with a moment of uncertainty, he thought back quickly and had tried to figure what had happened, but then he got what had happened and had sighed "Great work Hao…, you've intrigued a potential enemy." His mind mentally scolded him a moment as he simply spoke again to her. "Haomaru." The name was the only statement now, he felt her release him as she had spoken again "What the hell are you here?" this question spoken slightly less tense, and to such had it received an immediate word; nothing but truth "Exploring the Universe's lessons and offers." The words seemed to cause more confusion, that amidst Haomaru began to walk off once more before she could come up with more.

"Get your ass back here, damn it!" the fiery C'tarl grabbed his shoulder and stopped him once more, as if he had outraged her with his perplexing answer; though before she could speak again she heard her manger's ranting down the street, "Aisha! Get your tail back here now! Get back to work if you expect to keep your job!" the absolute demand of her manager did the one thing that one never did; piss off a C'tarl C'tarl. "Go to hell, you pudgy greasy spoon bastard!" was all she said back over her shoulder, her attention was back on the stranger before her. He could say nothing now it was far too late, her words had more than directly supported Haomaru's growing theory on the C'tarl before him "Hope you got room for another, you just gained a new travel companion; get used to it." She said in her matter-of-fact tone of finality. Haomaru simply sighed and shook his head to himself as Aisha now picked up pace alongside him "I should've gone on." He told himself as he began to think "Fate…I am even more unsure of where you take me." As if he could truly speak to the great beyond itself.


	3. Chapter: Leap of Faith

Chapter 3: Leap of Faith: Trust in a Stranger

"It's been two years since that little bastard Starwind has insulted the integrity of the Kei Pirates, we have been patiently biding our time to rebuild our strengths." ,The words spoken by the Tendo King whose back remained to shadow of his subordinate. "you are the best we have offer, you are nearly ready to destroy Starwind, but I have a little exercise for you first…you are to destroy that annoying C'tarl C'tarl who aided Starwind to prove your strength to us. Being rid of her will weaken the will of that man dramatically." The king had spoken with such certainty it was assured that he had faith in this man. Only a few words passed after the moment of the king's laughter had ended, "So shall it be done my lord." The shadowed man turned from the tendo king and headed to his ship, raising his armband and speaking into the communicator, "Lagos…start up the ship and direct it for Tenrei, it's time for the hunt." His word spoken as his face was lit by a disturbing grin, the grin of a man who enjoyed hunting his quarry to their bitter demise; one whom collected trophies of his conquests.

"You call this traveling arrangements!" the voice of Haomaru's companion yelling out from the open cargo hold as the two had left hastily from the space port. "Why not buy us High class seats, C'tarls do not travel in such meager conditions you know!" she growled at Haomaru, whom gave her no response and had only looked at her with no reaction on his calm face, only words to answer her anger. "As I have said before, if the defense of those I test is weak, then they are not worthy of my funds. It's a simple rule, and the defense of this current ship was a joke and not worthy of any currency." Aisha scowled at the calm words and turned her back to him. "Let's move on shall we?" was all that Haomaru said to her as he resumed his stride. His pace continued despite the C'tarl's stubbornness, and eventually she had run up to him and yanked him around to face her. "Alright buddy look here, if you are going to be by my side you'd better start BUYING your tickets and not stowing away, I hate this cramped up trash and this "defense weak" garbage. I won't put up with it Damn it!" by now her claws were digging into his skin, but once more got no serious response from the feline.

"Then don't travel with me." Was all he said, leaving Aisha for a moment to be stunned for about a second at his casual attitude about her anger, she shook her head and had moved in front of him before he could blink or step forward again. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, I don't care how you live." She saw the reaction in his eye and gave a little grin inwardly, "you can't get rid of me that simply, there's something about you…your so damn strange, and I'm gonna find out what it is." Were her final words to him before she moved ahead and continued her pace. Haomaru had to admit, she was stubborn enough to follow with him; he allowed himself to smile before continuing on after her into the woods of the Tenrei.

"It's been a while since I've had such a promising kill like this one, you know that Lagos?" "Yes sir, the last promising kill was over 15 years ago." The robotic voice spoke with the lack of emotion expected of a bucket of bolts, it had been built as a cybernetic AI with no emotion. It was the perfect traveling partner for the esteemed Pseudo King, whom now was the best that the 108 Stars had to offer. The mythical Pseudo King, the living shadow whom followed every command of the Tendo king without a word or thought against his word. The one bounty hunter who was considered true scum, for always killing victims even when the bounty paid or asked for the bounty head alive, "I believe that her head will make for another fine trophy to my collection." He spoke the words almost with glee. "You've not been this excited since that one kill 15 years ago sir, what makes this one so special?" he only grinned to Lagos and brushed his mane of blue fur back from his face, "This beast will be just as entertaining…, she may even be worth raping for that matter…I know that the last one was." Lagos gave an empty laugh at the attempted humor before returning to man his station. He smirked upon hearing the mechanical voice of the computer speaking, "Now entering Tenrei, prepare for landing procedure to begin."

"Are you gonna keep sleeping or what? I'm bored of being in this area, we're supposed to be exploring!" the exclaimed C'tarl had long finished her exploration of the area, but still got no word from the resting Haomaru, who finally opened his eyes and had looked to her with a smile. "The planet is wonderful, almost at total peace." Aisha just blinked at him, before grabbing his arm and yanking him to stand, "Let's get going already!" He only nodded to her as they began moving. It had been over 7 hours since had arrived on the planet, their non-stop exploration was wearing down on them both; nightfall was creeping over the edge of the fading light in the woods. After some complaining from Aisha, Haomaru had finally settled in to make camp in a shaded area by some trees. As the fire crackled Aisha seemed to be restless still, though he'd paid for a luxury tent and provisions for her; she was still troubled about something. She looked out from her tent at him; the feline had been sitting under the tree by the fire in meditation for the longest time. She almost jumped when his eyes shot open, in the night fire the glow of fluorescent green fire and for a moment she was staring, before speaking and sounding irritated by his actions, "What the hell is it! Your jumping like that makes me nervous!" Haomaru had only frowned softly, this worrying her just a little more. "We're not alone, stay here Aisha." Was all he said as before she could protest he had darted into the forest; headed towards the Pseudo King's landing area.

"Alright boys, watch the ship and you Lagos, I'm leaving you in charge. I'm going hunting, it may take a while just keep the ship ready for us to go." Pseudo king smirked and had leapt from the ship, his chrome-like armor gleaming under the deep moonlight as he sped into the forest; now seeking his quarry out. The Pseudo king followed his scanners as it homed in on Aisha's signal from the distance, "I can hardly wait to taste your blood." His voice silent upon the evening night, though his thoughts were brought back to reality for a moment as his sensor system blipped briefly and then disappeared. "Damn thing must be on the fritz." He uttered to himself as he continued on towards his target. Unknown to him, the target had been Haomaru moving hastily towards the ship. Haomaru's eye narrowed upon the broad ship of design, he recognized the insignia on the side and had almost snarled, "108 Stars…" was all he spoke as his clawed hand moved to the sword in its sheath.

The Pseudo king's ship was rumbled by a heavy slash against its side that had compromised the hull, "warning ship under attack, weapon of unknown origin, damage to mid-section of west wing hull. Inner hull breach on lower decks 15-27." The damage to the ship was coming on quickly as Lagos worked with his inhuman speed to set the ship's defenses online, soon the ships guns had been online and firing blindly on auto-targets all around the ship. "Ship scan the area for hostiles, what is causing this damage?" the ship answered him within moments, "Scan reveals one hostile, unknown species with use of an archaic slicing weapon." Lagos blinked as he tried to think of what it was, before hearing the ships' latest warning, "Danger, outer core reactor has been compromised, emergency bulkheads in place.", the blows came more swiftly around the ship, each slash causing more damage to the ship's hull that grew in measures. "Time to end this…" Haomaru's words came coldly, as his eyes became a cold distant midnight blue, he had stood before the ship's gunfire without fear; as he gathered his inner soul's chi for the final attack on the ship. "Shoreline Tsurugi Style, Shoreline Tsunami." The attack was stated moments before his body became swelled with force. The sudden gain mass had caused the ship's scanners to read his body mass wrongly, "Enemy's height estimation at 60 meters and growing, system sc-." The ship's dialect was cut off, as the ship exploded at that instant. The blast enveloped the area it had landed within, and yet Haomaru was no where to be seen. "Aisha…please be okay." Haomaru's words of worry went unheard as he rushed through the woods desperately. Finally the Pseudo King had come across the fiery C'tarl's presence, "Aisha Clan Clan, the pleasure is all mine." Aisha had turned to the figure and growled deeply in his throat, as she caught sight of the weapons emerging from the silhouette of her foe's form.


	4. Chapter: Saved by a Stranger

Chapter 4: Saved by a Stranger: Fates Entwined

"Who the hell are you, addressing me like I'm your best friend or something!" Aisha had instantly taken offense to the casual behavior of the stranger, it wasn't even noting the weapons that he'd had, the sight of them had made her body tense, and she felt herself naturally preparing herself for the impending battle. "So tense are we? Well I suppose we should get to it." At the instant of the last word Aisha felt the first blow land across her face, a fierce right cross from the strange creature's metallic fist had sent her staggering at the first moment. By the second maneuver of her foe, Aisha had caught the neck fist and clenched in between her fingers as she shoved him backwards in his place and had brought her free fist across his face with her anger, "Stupid Bastard! How dare you underestimate a C'tarl, I'll show you what we can do!" her furious right foot had furled across his face and sent his large body into a spiral as he was sent straight through two of the trees to their right. By the time his body hit the floor, Aisha was there and slamming her fist into his face; the bone crunching of each punch could be heard as the furious C'tarl C'tarl woman took out her fury on the seemingly helpless Pseudo King whose grunts could be heard as she battered him.

As Aisha's foot kicked slammed into the armor of the Pseudo king and had sent him barreling into a stump of what was once a tree he'd smashed through; he shot up with a grin on his face as he licked his own blood from the corner of his mouth. "My my, such anger… this will be as fun as I thought it would be." The words spoken from his lips had made Aisha growl at him in her rage, she was reaching the boiling point now as her fists clenched again, "I don't give a damn what you are, you're gonna regret pissing me off." The finality of her tone made the Pseudo King smirk the coming words slipping from him with great pride, "So much like my last quarry…no wonder you're both from the C'tarl C'tarl Empire, or rather he was." The casualness made her growl as her eyes caught sight of the blue mane, her eyes for a moment had shown something other than her anger; some surprise. "Why yes my dear Aisha, I've killed one of your people before, no need to ask. And yes you are next; I'm hunting you down for the glory of the 108 Stars. For my Lord the Tendo King, who will enjoy your pelt when I bring it to him." Aisha wasn't surprised; though her stomach curled at the mention of the 108 Stars since her business with them was long through… or so she had thought. "Don't get butterflies in the belly on me now, we're just starting so let's party." Her eyes narrowed on him now, oh she was gonna rip him apart, "You've sealed your fate pirate, prepare to die." Once more, her tone was final as was her determination now.

Sensing the battle from the distance, Haomaru had only gained more speed from the worry towards his companion's welfare in combat. He didn't doubt her skill, but he knew who this was, he'd recognized the elite symbols upon the side of the ship before he destroyed it and such had made him more alert of what kind of pirate they were dealing with. "The King's Shadow…the ultimate pirate, Aisha doesn't realize just who she is fighting. This creature will not go down as easy as she believes." He had been convinced that she would beat him; until he decided to show his true form to her. Haomaru knew this man, no this thing that had worked for the king directly. He'd had 204 bounties and all were dead, each one as different as the last; and one more vicious than the end. He'd heard that each one at one point had shown the fear of death before he did. "I will destroy him… heavens do not let me late, I must not falter in this endeavor." He spoke his words of concern once more to the heavens, the trees which whispered and the moon's silent retort gave him some hope, "I will not fail." Carefully the words of determination were chosen.

As the Pseudo King had slammed back into the wall of the large rock formation, he only passed Aisha a grin, "So much better than your little citizen was, I believe he was of the iron guard or something on his world. Your far better at this, not as clumsy as I thought." He stood at his full height of 6'7" and loomed over a hunched over and weary Aisha, her body had been rattled by dodging missiles, avoiding forms of laser & bullets, and breaking several blades he'd drawn and assaulted her with in the battle. But she only grinned at him, showing off her fangs as she had glared at him, "One more trick I've got for you, you should consider yourself lucky since I don't transform for just anyone." Her final words ending in a fierce snarl, he smiled genuinely with his delight as he almost welcomed her with open arms, his cloak finally being cast off. "You know my dear, you've proved to be worthy of my change as well. I've got to admit you really are much better than my last foe, I'll enjoy dominating your body…and making you squirm before I kill you." As he had spoken, his bones had rapidly shifted and popped sickeningly loud; body altering it's shape as he rose to 7'2", two sets of extra arms extending with a newer weapon in each arm, and is back legs popping into reverse to allow him more movement. "Your worth every bit of this Aisha, come and let us see, who is truly stronger!"

The Pseudo King had run towards Aisha, his hand cannon firing off a heavy caliber round at where she once stood, her form nothing but a white streak as she slammed into his side armor, like white fire she'd bit into the armor and tore a chunk out of it before kicking off of his hip as he slashed the sword where she once was, again too slow to catch her. However she had turned, her body once more launched towards the Pseudo King's side and battering his armor with her body and forcing the king into a stumble. Though as the white blur had moved from his side, she felt the aura sword biting into her leg and as she had landed, she staggered a step and hissed at him in rage. "Ah…yes, my blood is boiling…I feel alive now, I must thank you for this." As the words were spoken, his free hand had pressed a button on his belt that ignited a rocket engine. "Now the tides turn for us my kitten, this battle was pre-destined by me." Aisha threw herself from the sight of another caliber destroying the ground where she once stood.

As the Pseudo King had flown down towards her, his auto-guns from his armor firing off at her, he kept his eyes on her actions; she had still been on the attack and even with her wound still kept ahead of him. The battle raged for the next hour, Aisha had managed to even the odds though taking some more scratches and slashes; she stood panting while her eyes were still fixed upon her foe. She'd destroyed his jetpack and several of his turret guns, but still he stood with a big grin on his face. "Your move my pretty cat, something for you…you've earned the best with your performance. I consider this a going away present for someone as skilled as you my little kitten." In some sick way, his words of adoration were meant and he was certain he'd remember this battle for many days if not years to come ahead. He made a move before she could see him, he caught her during a blink and was upon her within moments. The barrel of the gun wrenching it's way into her shoulder as the round fired off at point blank range, such a shot had made her body wrench backwards towards the ground before she'd hit it.

Aisha had but a moment to remain stunned by the piercing shot that tore through her shoulder, her foreleg buckling under the stress as she flopped on the ground like a fish out of water; the pain hit her like a wall and caused her to rattle from the resounding force that had long left her. "Brave my kitten, encore I'd say it's worth to see it, to fight this battle with you again and again, but we know your going to be finished soon." He lowered the front of the barrel and had fired another round off into her stomach, the shot had forced her eyes to widen in pain as it ripped through her, a pained roar filled the air which soon had become a shrill shriek as Aisha was forced to De-transform and return to her human form.

He looked over his beaten quarry and examined what had been done to himself, with a snort he had brought his foot to her ribs and kicked her over to her stomach from her side. he stepped above her and had watched her as she spat up some blood from her mouth, he kicked her across the face and had laughed now at her, "You know...you really hurt me and I thought I hated you for that, but I love you for it." Aisha during this had been trying to struggle, trying to force her body to move and to get away from this thing standing above her, she managed to start crawling a little bit before he had nudged her over with his taloned boot and had pressed the talons along her throat. "Going somewhere my kitten? Oh no, we're not yet done, we are going to rape you now, doesn't that sound fun?" he said it cheerily, as if it were some kind of game or fun event.

Soon the Pseudo king had lowered himself onto her body, he straddled along her stomach as she struggled desperately to escape him, she spat blood in his eye and had punched him across the face,"You bastard, I'm going to rip your throat out!" He smiled more at there, a genuine frightening smile that made even her hair stand on end. "Struggle for me, yes that's it, make it more like the act it is to be." he seemed to be egging her resistant acts against him on more. All this before he had swept his fist across her face, sending Aisha's face to themud and blood covered ground at her side, beforerepeating the punch with his left and grinning widely at her,"So much fun, I must thank you for the raring excitement." Aisha's answer to his retort had slashed him across the face with some of her remaining strength, the rip of his flesh beneath her claws brought some self satisfaction to her wounded body and ego in itself. "You'll never rape me, I swear I'll kill you first you son of a bitch!" the Pseudo king only laughed at her and her threat before cupping her chin hard and leaning to her ear to whisper to her, "That's just what my last quarry said before I mounted him and I tore him, I made him know me as he would know a predator that's knowing it's prey. I'll never forget that delicious feeling of satisfaction, I made him roar in his pain before I tore my hands into his throat and ripped it out...I think he even liked it as finished him that way."

Aisha's eyes had flickered something behind it, though her eyes only glared at him with anger and her desperate rage, she felt chilled by his words,"You sick bastard, your parents must be as crazy as you are!" her words thrown at him with venom, but only made him grin widely,"Funny that you mention parentage my dear, my parents were actually afraid of me and even tried to kill me. But I felt compelled to show them my care, so I brutally raped and killed the both of them." Aisha just blinked, unbelieving before he continued,"My dear sweet mother's last words as I hilted inside of her, and at that moment tore my dagger into her breast; right to her heart, she still spoke these words. 'Foul creature...there is no way you were my child born.' and by god I told her she was right, before she died that is." Aisha had valiantly faced this twisted creature with courage of many, but even now she felt mortal terror; she was about to be raped by an absolute monstrosity of existance.

Aisha shut her eyes and lashed out once more, pushing against the man as she bled profusely through her stomach and shoulder wounds, but her numb body had resound to quitting and frowning upon her nearly hopeless efforts. She could faintly hear the tearing of her clothing, what remained of her bodice after having been in the battle and she winced for a moment, until she heard a cry of surprise from her attacker and felt his weight forced off of her. While her eyes where closed she heard a slash and another grunt from her attacker as his body and voice sounded further away than they were before. Her eyes shot open as she had looked up at Haomaru's fluorescent eyes, within them were swirling emotion that she slowly deciphered; she read the fear, worry, rage, guilt, relief, the many emotions that must've been fleeting through Haomaru at the moment. "H-H-Hao...maru..." she uttered his name as she felt the remaining strength fleeting from her body to move. He placed two fingers on her lips and shook his head,"Hush valiant Aisha, you've fought both gracefully and honorably against your foe, and now I will finish what you started. Take no shame in having aid, you faced a weak fool with no Honor, nor a spine in his body."

"Bold words from you stranger, I imagine you know my kitten in some way don't you?" Haomaru's answer was a slash of his sword, the wave of pure chi flying from the blade that struck his face, before another had stricken his stomach and following this had been a sudden flash of speed that struck across his face and sent him barrelling to the ground. "Speak not to me creature, all you have brought uupon yourself is your impending death Kei scum, you touched this forbidden tulip among thorny roses and now you will die where you stand." The Pseudo king was surprised and amused by his words both at once, he fired a round from his downed arm and the power rifle that resided within it's grasp, the bullet was soon in four pieces upon the ground. The king was surprised to see such speed, the grace of his blade had been too fast for Aisha's failing sight and consciousness to see, he rose back to his feet and gave off a little grin,"I guess we're going to see you dead as well, I won't have this now for I have claimed my kitten for my next. Perhaps you want to be my next victim." Aisha's eyes finally closed and Haomaru had sheathed his blade,"Shoreline Style Final Technique, Short Spiral Wave Lotus." the Pseudo king lowered his knees and had prepared himself for the move as he watched the fast growing swells throughout his opponent. "His power's incredible...it's way off the scale now, so much chi...it's like a storm."

Those were the last words of the Pseudo King, he had no time to react to Haomaru's over blurred form; he swept past the king four times in a graceful yet violent spinning motions before landing off to the side of the unconscious Aisha and rising from his hunched position to stand again, back turned to the Pseudo King. "Not bad, you managed to break my armor b-bu-t...grraghh...arrghagh.." the king felt his lips splitting litterally at the seams of flesh, as his flesh were nothing but fleshy thread. The king had moments to realize it, that he ws dead and he could feel his body falling apart at each moment of the seemingly eternal seconds, he tried to move but had already felt his legs turning into fleshy spaghetti rolled up neatly, He collapsed with the uttered sound of a final breath before Haomaru had sheathed his sword again, the blade not once coated in a little of his enemy's blood. "Never again will you claim a life..." he said as he had taken off his Kimono top and gently moved to wrap Aisha in the Kimono top. He heard and felt her flinch as she came to wake at his touch, he smiled softly as he felt the gash along his arm taking it's root as well, she looked to his arm and spotted the wound and Haomaru only smiled at her as he started into the woods,"Don't worry about it...Aisha, you have fought well and gracefully as I imagined you would. Though I could not see it I could sense it, now please allow a humble swordsman aid his travelling companion, the vivrant and brave Aisha Clan Clan, proud warrior princess of her C'tarl C'tarl people."

She looked up at him, just a little pink in the cheeks at his comment, but shut her eyes as she felt him taking her somewhere; a place that he'd find and make safe to take care of her wounds. Aisha felt something then, a little more respect and maybe even trust in the stranger she'd met so short a time ago. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she had originally thought,"Strange...but nice guy." her mind uttered to her as she fell into an unconscious sleep, but the most important was that it felt to her...safe and not alone.


	5. Chapter: Healing of a Soul

Chapter 5: Healing of the Soul: A Stranger's Care

Haomaru had walked all the way back to the Spaceport, he found a strange red ship, whose insignia he'd seen before, he told himself just who it was as he had seen the famed Red headed Bounty hunter, and all the rest was a blur in time. Haomaru had introduced himself to Gene, and the moment Gene saw Aisha's wounds he ordered the stranger onto the ship with her. The Outlaw crew had remained much the same over the two year period, even Twilight Suzuka was still traveling with the lot of them. The moment the crew saw Aisha they had rushed to her side, all had noticed the protection that the stranger had towards her, it was agreed that he'd take her to her room and let the crew tend to her wounds with him watching over her; during the time he'd watched the most dangerous of Aisha's strange friends with a firm eye. Suzuka's eye had been on the stranger from the moment he'd entered since she had sensed something, as soon as she'd seen his eye she knew he was a warrior of distinction; from his look to his sword in it's scabbard and that was all she needed to see.

As Melfina oversaw the proper cleaning of her wounds and tending to her damage ridden body, Suzuka provided aid but not without watching the strange feline warrior whom sat calmly to the side and had watched them work. As Suzuka's aid was currently through helping Aisha, she made it her business to know this stranger on the basic level, simple questions were all she needed to find out what, who, and how good he may have been, "So stranger, your name is?" "Haomaru of the Shoreline." Haomaru instinctively gave his title to the Assassin without hesitation; his cool eyes had glanced up to meet her gaze which he noticed held equal tranquility within its own.

"Might I have your name?" "Twilight Suzuka." The statement could have been thunder, he gave a faint bow of his head to her, he was acknowledging her as a warrior, he knew of her accomplishments and why she was named 'Twilight' at the prefix of her name, "It is an honor to meet you Twilight Suzuka, your name is not without its merit as you are well known on my world." He left no more than a soft smile and didn't say anymore. Suzuka had given him a light nod in turn before she had left the room, to think on how the stranger carried himself while Haomaru had returned to watching over Aisha as Melfina and the others had finished up.

"Well she'll be okay now; her wounds weren't too bad thanks to the plant life you utilized on her wounds, thank you." He gave a soft smile and nodded to her, "The pleasure was mine to do so for my traveling companion, as is the honor of meeting the outlaw star and its famous crew." Melfina gave a small smile, "Well just let her rest now, she'll be fine come tomorrow, her wounds will likely to have healed by then.

As he watched over Aisha's resting form he had smiled gently and stroked a finger along the side of her hair as he whispered to her gently, "As pretty as a Tiger Lily, hiding amongst your relative yet timid Water Lilies; so much ferociousness hinted with danger." He drew back as he instinctively felt her stir, he was certain that she would be getting up on her own son. He returned to the corner and had sat down as he had looked at her, suppressing his feelings towards her he knew that it wouldn't happen. This wasn't any such of a time, and she far too fierce even for he, so his mind had told himself finitely. He shut his eyes and had let the time pass him by, as he remained in a deep restful meditation; both on thought of the end battle and to allow his chi to restore as he had let his body and mind rest, at times meditation could be better than even sleep could be for faster recovery.

Aisha awakened in a soft bed, she sniffed the air and had recognized it, it was her old room on…it couldn't have been, the Outlaw Star? It was she knew the scent so well; it had been what lingered in her mind even while she was working in the café/restaurant. She gave off a soft weak groan as she tried to move, she heard a voice speaking softly,

"You should lay still, you're incredible at recovery Aisha, but the pain doesn't leave one from your wounds just so easily." Haomaru had been sitting across the room from her, shining that blade, that strange sword she'd seen him use against the Pseudo King. Aisha smiled softly at the sight of her friend, she had to admit he was reliable at least, "Haomaru...who are you?" She said this as he had set the blade in his lap and curled up the cloth.

"Aisha, that is a very leading question to ask and I will answer if you are interested in truly knowing. But I say, ask yourself for that moment is it what your after?" she gave a soft confused look at the feline warrior and had given off a soft grumble. "Confuse people much? Just tell me alright?" she wasn't in the mood for dealing with confusion right now, the most important thing to her was getting to know her new friend; that was true wasn't it? He was now her friend and she felt that small connection to him, it was something that felt nice.

"Well I will not keep you from know that you are seeking, as you may have heard me speak before I am Haomaru of the Shoreline Blade." She nodded faintly and looked at him, "What's that mean, this 'of the Shoreline blade' stuff?" he gave a soft smile at her and gladly explained such, "It means my family's sword style becomes one with my name. My family's generated style of sword art is the Shoreline Blade style; it's our way of thanking nature for her contributions to the fruition of our lives." Aisha once more gave a light nod, she understood what he meant since the C'tarls themselves had respected nature greatly in their fighting skills. "I come from a long line of Samurai who traditionally become one with their sword styles over time and make use of them for the betterment of their lives and those around them. We use the sword to try to curve the very essence of time into something more pleasant."

Aisha gave another nod before grinning lightly, "So Self-righteous people who devote their lives to an ancient art in order to provide for the universe we live in?" Haomaru chuckled at her modernization of the description he gave her, "In a nutshell as I've heard the saying spoken." She sat up and had given him a light smile, "Come here." She stated firmly to him, this rousing a rise of his brow, "Hmm? What is it?" Aisha gave him a skeptical glance and growled a little, "Come here, do I have to spell it out for you?" Haomaru had shrugged and made his way to the bed from the far wall of the room, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her, "What is it?" he was soon answered as she curled her arms around him and drew him closer; he realized that she was hugging him and was astounded at the moment.

Aisha saw the look of amazement in his eyes and was insulted by it; she drew back a little and demanded, "What? You think I'm getting soft or something? This doesn't mean anything, I'm just thanking you is that wrong or what? Wh-" she was cut off by a gentle return of the hug from him, he was smiling at her as he gave her shoulder a light nuzzle with his nose; this made her roll her eyes at him, "Alright, let's not get too mushy alright? I do mean it when I say thank you Haomaru, you respected me enough not to come riding to the rescue like some hero. I'm glad that you could understand what I needed at the moment."

Haomaru had nodded, he did understand pride and the need for any warrior to prove oneself in battle as an equal or superior, "I was in awe of your strength and determination to fight still; you are truly a phenomenal in strength and skill. It's nothing short of your determination to show no emotion in battle; a very honorable fight you stood your ground." He drew back from her hold the rest of the way, figuring that she was through holding him to a degree; but he hadn't imagined nor caught the little annoyance as he drew back and how quickly it faded.

"So Haomaru, what are your plans? Do you plan on going somewhere anytime soon?" her eyes hinted curiosity at the Samurai's next place of direction, where he was going she was going to follow him; as she figured she was starting to understand him a little more, but still not enough for her knowledge. She still had some things to learn about the silent and still somewhat elusive samurai's ways, he was a bit of an oddball to her but better her understanding of him overall was growing.

"I'm going to be visiting with a friend of mine, she's decided to meet with the Outlaw Star and give me a ride to another planet with wilds on it, she's been missing me and wanting to stay with me for a little while, but I do always move around and she hates missing time with me if she's got the time." He did catch notice of Aisha's eyes darkening over with something for a moment, he wasn't sure just what it was that he had seen, but he would keep an eye out for it.

"Oh I see, so you're gonna ditch me here huh? Just up and leave me because I'm in bed? Well I don't think so hot shot! You're not getting rid of me that easily, no bed ever stopped me from-" she found herself actually angry over this and it made her stop, what made her so hostile? She took a split second to think on that, while Haomaru had spoken up on the matter himself.

"No Aisha, in fact I was hoping you'd stay on with me. I find your company very fun if not enlightening in itself, I don't think I'd have as fruitful thoughts or a fair time without you along with me. But pardon my way of speaking, I mean I would like to request your company instead of sounding too informal about-" she gave a faint glare at him as she gave a little scowl.

"Enough formality damn, you may have been raised that way but enough is enough. You're not totally bad since you call me by my name, but I grow tired of this prim and proper talk, you're gonna learn to talk right with me around you." She gave a little cat grin that made Haomaru smile a little bit, she crossed her arms and gave a little huff at this now.

Well it seemed to him that she was coming along recovery fine, in a day or two his cousin would be meeting up with them; he found it a little strange at Aisha's behavior towards mention of his friend being a 'her' but he figured she was this way with other females as well. He didn't fully understand the C'tarl Warrior Princess, let alone her way of life but he had a feeling he'd be learning well during this point. He thought it would be a very enlightening period, as well as the opportunity to think and get a look at how she reacted to one person as blunt, direct, and blatantly uncaring about how she appeared as his cousin.


	6. Chapter: True Feelings for a stranger

Chapter 6: True Feelings for a Stranger

Aisha and Haomaru had soon met with Haomaru's 'friend' who in truth had been his cousin, this by action neglected to be mentioned by the Feline Samurai; whom hadn't thought much of the family bond since they were more as friends as they were relatives, it was something normal to him. His glance had turned to the entrance of the famous ship; it was the Armarandt, one of the more prestigious armored pleasure cruise ships; personally owned by a Tomoe Delilah of the Shoreline Blade. Aisha gave a light snort as she caught the scent of cherry blossoms under her nose; hear the voice of the extravagant female didn't help her mood either.

"Haomaru! Aiyah, it's been forever!" the jubilant female had leapt across the hall way and had been caught and lightly hugged by the Samurai; her face nuzzling along his shoulder tenderly as she had hugged him closely, she licked his cheek and had drawn back as she heard a growl. "Well now who do we have here? A girlfriend of yours Haomaru? I didn't know you had a girlfriend, you should have told me."

Aisha was utterly pissed at her rude attitude, she gave off another loud growl and had swished her tail in a manner that was calming; she took a breath before she spoke, "I little miss am the great Aisha Clan Clan, and you'd better know that without me having to tell you again." She gave a stern glare at the girl who gave a light grin at her words.

"Ooo Full of flare aren't we? Of course I know you Aisha, you're so famous who wouldn't? You are the C'tarl C'tarl that traveled with Gene Starwind and took out the top pirates that belong to the 108 Stars of the Kei Pirates." The feline was quite knowledgeable about the events that took place and this caught Aisha a little off guard since the girl was still hugging on Haomaru; Aisha couldn't help but feel ticked off by her clingy nature, Haomaru drew from her and the girl let him go.

As Aisha and Haomaru had bid the crew of the Outlaw Star good bye finally over the comm., Haomaru and Aisha were taken to separate rooms; much to Aisha's disappointment somewhere inside of her they were quite distant. She couldn't help but notice more and more irritated anger towards the feline hostess who'd been hanging around Haomaru and catching up with him; she noticed how well they got along and told each other anything that had happened without problems. "Well the dinner was most enjoyable thanks for eating with me, the two of you are great company." She smiled once more as Aisha grabbed Haomaru's arm and had led him towards the exit of the room. "Good night!" Tomoe gave a light shrug at the hasty retreat of Aisha and had went about finishing her meal.

"Haomaru, how do you know that girl?" the question came from Aisha's mouth without her thinking; by time she thought about what she said she had no longer cared about even being embarassed if at all. "Well she trained with me close during our upbringing, she's one of the fellow students of the Shoreline Blade Style; one of the few acceling students that brings high honor to our school.

"Oh, no wonder she was hanging around you so much; it must've been a long time since you two have seen each other." the news made Aisha smile a little bit mentally; she was suddenly feeling better and hadn't taken a moment to think why. "Well Good Night Haomaru, see you tomorrow." Aisha said before the feline could say anything at all and was gone down the hall and headed towards her room.

Later on as the hours passed idly the ship was in silence, the time was passing fairly slow in the mind of a certain C'tarl C'tarl and had her waking up several times throughout the evening. She grumbled and kicked the pillow from the bed, it was comfortable enough as was the pillow and the new feeling bed linen she was on; something was wrong but it wasn't what she had thought. She sat up on the bed now, her hair falling down over her shoulders as she gave off a soft yawn and stretched her arm and tail out behind her. "I wonder what the hell it is? I should be sleeping like a stone." She told herself to go back to sleep and curled back up, she succeeded for the time being and had fallen back to bed.  
Her mind drifted away to other thoughts while she slept, she envisioned the end of the battle of the Pseudo King; the monster that had been planning to rape her and would have succeeded had her friend not come along. "Friend." the word whispered in her head and made her smile in her sleep as she curled onto her side, it made her smile that she had a friend; he was a strange and still mysterious person to her but he was a friend.

Finally the hours had passed into the early morning of the new day, Aisha woke up from her sleep without need of an alarm since she found her standing and stretching out her back and tail as her nightgown was brushed down by her hands. "I wonder if Haomaru's awake yet?" she figured that he was up doing some strange meditation or kata with his sword; well she'd put a stop to that she figured by the time she had headed towards his room with a mind set straight in thought. By the time she reached his door her ears perked to the sound of a female purring, her eyes burned furiously, "She wouldn't dare..! I'll rip her to pieces!" her fury built as she yanked the door open; her eyes widened and narrowed at the sleeping Tomoe.

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It took only a few minutes for her to leap onto the bed and tackle Tomoe from Haomaru, a flying and hissing ball of tussling females had Haomaru shoot to wake as he had tried to gather his barings, he caught sight of two tussling bodies and the familiar yowls of his cousin and his newest friend of all at this time. He more or less blinked as he heard Aisha's yelling distinctly in his room; what was she doing here exactly? Then it hit him that he was such a fool not to tell her, Tomoe's laughing confirmed his thoughts at moot point.

"Who the hell do you think you are! Sneaking into someone's bedroom to sleep so damn close to them! I'm gonna rip your God damned throat out you slut!" Aisha's growling and struggling with the near equally strong friend of Haomaru's wasn't in her morning plans but she was far too pissed to be stopped now, as she took into thought of what she had saw; she long justified her actions on pouncing the female and attacking her as she did right now. Tomoe had pushed herself from Aisha and had smiled at her wily, she knew why she pounced her and had almost savored the moment of her rage. Aisha's anger continued to flare until Haomaru; who was now dressed in his night robe had stepped between the two and held Aisha in his arms, having caught the hissing and angry C'tarl before she could try to rip his cousin apart.

"Haomaru, what the hell-" She was cut off as he had given a sigh; it seemed to silence her long enough for him to speak now as he had looked at her with a light gentle look. "I'm sorry Aisha, in my utter ignorance I forgot to explain just what Tomoe is to me; I can see that I didn't help the situation by not telling you." Aisha took in his words and pulled from his grasp now, still fleeting with her anger as she glared at him and the still smiling Tomoe afterwards.

"This is Tomoe Delilah of the Shoreline Blade, I had guessed that this would have caught your ear yes?" Aisha shrugged off the question as she answered it without hesitation or wait. "Yeah yeah, so she studied at your school what does that mean? She's a sister of yours in the school that's no excuse to be all over you!" she seemed ready to pounce on the now giggling Tomoe who looked at her and shook her head, "Wrong again kitten, we are fellow students but it's much more than that." Tomoe's teasing nearly broke Aisha's patience as she spat a retort, "Shut your mouth before I rip you apart stupid hussy." this only fed Tomoe the satisfaction she felt.

Haomaru rubbed behind his head and sighed again; man he wasn't very good at explaining so he got on with it quickly and fortified his determination, "Yes, this link with her is truly through familial link since we are close blood cousins. She, Tomoe Delilah is my first cousin by blood and daughter to my aunt." He finished with a little satisfaction the information planted in her Aisha's mind, he continued so as to clear up any confusion she had. "She and I are very close, I know what it appeared to be sexual in content wasn't really so; in that fact we are used to resting close when in need of comfort, I admit that Tomoe was teasing you with her not telling you and for that I am deeply sorry. But in all truths this isn't uncommon for my family to be used to cuddling or closeness in rest." he gave her a light look and watched her just blush before she had stormed out of the room, still angry but about other things.

Tomoe moved to his arm and hugged his side as she giggled uncontrollably, "You know Haomaru, she really is quite taken with you, did you see her anger at me curling against you? She couldn't stand it! Oooh, I'm so excited for you cuz; looks like you have a real keeper there." Haomaru more or less blushed and had looked at her while shaking his head, "You could really have gotten someone hurt with your ignorance Tomoe, she was really angry you should have told her you." he frowned at his cousin and she sighed lightly at him. "Yeah yeah, I'm sorry alright? Let's go get some breakfast, its going to be really fun." Haomaru's ears perked at her voice as she had looked over her shoulder and winked, he sighed knowing that his cousin was planning to toy with Aisha more; and he took notice of his own thoughts, he knew if he could help it he'd stop her.

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During the duration of the overly sized breakfast that the three of them were sharing, there was a cool silence there since the event in the bedroom before. He took note that Aisha was wrapped up in her eating and keeping her gaze only on the food; he noticed her embarassment was a little stronger from before and had taken the note into thought since she was digging through her food a little quicker than he'd noticed her to before. He gave off a light sigh as he had felt the breakfast was going pretty well and that things weren't going to be nearly as bad as he had thought. His mind was keeping focused on eating a fair share of the food at the table, his people the 'Nuxys' as they were joking called by others in the C'tarl Empire were known for their appetites being tremendous. He had felt things going well until he made one large error; this was the one that had made time seem to slow down... as his grasp slipped and the fork in his hand had dropped towards his lap, while normally he would have caught it again he felt himself seize up once it hit his lap and sat there.

Tomoe gave a soft fake look of shock before she had spoken words that Haomaru had dreaded hearing from her lips, "Oops, had an accident did you Haomaru let me get it for you." he could feel Aisha's gaze set on her as she strutted over to him; he could have sworn he felt Aisha's blood boiling and anger building as Tomoe's tail had shot up like a cat showing their significant greatness in an area. He watched as Tomoe almost teasingly bent over, making sure her rear had brushed her cousin's side as if she were hitting on him. But the worst had been yet to come and Haomaru knew it. It wasn't until he noticed her robe had shifted and purposely been left partly open at her cleavage; and while he wasn't affected it didn't help Aisha's rage building as he fet her sit in his lap and curl an arm around his shoulder before she'd spoken. "Here you are Hao-kun, let me fix it for you." he gave off a light growl as he felt her grinding into his lap; not at the feeling but at what she was doing, his instincts told him Aisha was already rising as Tomoe turned in his lap and had taken the fork to the French Toast and took a piece before placing it in Haomaru's mouth, "Eat up now dear cousin." her words mocked something sensual and he heard Aisha's growl, hell was going to break loose.

Aisha's body was a blur over the table, she'd naturally leapt over the table and had tackled Tomoe down, which in this case had her landing atop of Tomoe and Haomaru at once. the period leaving Haomaru closed off as he felt her struggling with his cousin, they were tussling above him; his body pinned by both struggling girls now as he heard Tomoe giggle and Aisha snarling. Haomaru had felt himself blushing deeply at this point, his body had naturally come to life with Aisha above him; in some overt way this was rather sexy of the C'tarl to be upon him in her nature, pure rage. However the ending was what had the both of them stunned while they passed glances at each other; Aisha hadn't been near Tomoe now since she slipped away, she was upon Haomaru now and indirectly at some point left straddling him.

The moment didn't really last more than a moment as they stared into each others eyes, as if bewildered and entrapped by the gaze of the infinity within each others eyes. Soon she had darted back from him and had been sitting on the ground, her back to him and her face now more than beat red; with a more strange odd silence between them. Only Tomoe's voice had spoken, she knew Aisha was utterly furious at her and was already by the door to retreat, "Well now you two have fun, it seems you needed help coming together. So glad that I could help you Cuz ." she mocked a full smile before she had disappeared behind the door.

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Some odd hours after the incident at breakfast, Aisha had made sure that she avoided Haomaru for some of the time while she sorted out her feelings, it took her some time to gather just what she was going to be doing, what she had been thinking about, however she had decided something by the evening, that it was time to tell him just what was up. "I won't let this go unsaid." She told herself a little unsurely, though she had been sure enough that she was going to tell him this. She left her room and had started down the hall no, her mind was focused on her quarry and her mission; she smirked a little finally feeling good about it now, the thought didn't seem to bother her now.

Haomaru sat in his room in meditation, even in the late hours he'd given off a light sigh while his tail as he had given off a frustrated sigh and bat his tail against the edge of the floor. "Curse Tomoe...she utterly ruined breakfast, and now I am stuck with this guilt that is to be mine by fate; how cruel can you be to one?" he asked the silence of his room in some need of a desperate answer. Though the silence was broken as his door was slid open and then slid closed afterwards, before he could say anything he found himself yelping in some surprise as Aisha yanked him to his feet. "Anything to say on your behalf Cat-boy?" her look spoke of some faux frustration, though it appeared real to him he fumbled some words in answer, "Yes, I'm sorry about my cousin's outburst, she was totally out of line." Aisha cut him off with a soft growl, "Anything else?" heblinked and then started to form words again; fumbling over his speech, "She was rude-" "And!" Aisha seemed to grow more impatient, and rolled her eyes at him,"Fine I'll do it." her last words spoken finality that Haomaru didn't understand.

However the next action wasn't his to do or understand, Aisha drew him closer to him and pressed her lips to his now; taking the confused Nyx into a kiss as she had nuzzled her face into his now as she held him to her. His fingers curled at her shoulders now, his tail curling at her side while he returned the gentle kiss and seemed to fall into the mood of the kiss. The two seemed to be at peace,while finally coming together the trial wasn't over yet; it now would only take time to see what would happen between the two next.


	7. Chapter: Pursuing a stranger

Chapter 7: Pursuing the Stranger, cracking the shell

The event had been fresh in Aisha's mind; she remembered the sweet feeling of her lips against the stranger who'd mysteriously invaded her feelings and her life so short a while ago. She paced in her room a moment, obviously annoyed with not only her for doing something without though, but the fact it was HE that retreated; was he afraid of her and her advances? "Too damn bad…" her mind seemed to settle the thought without much of thinking involved in her decision. She could feel herself pleased with that decision that she just made in her mind, she rose from her bed now and had gone off to find the surprisingly distant feline that she'd felt her connection to; it was about time she found out how he felt.

While she'd set off to find him, it had been a simple fact that he'd made himself distant from her and had been off trying to think about the situation, he had been gazing down at the small pond, in the faux park area that his cousin's ship had. He was still flustered the kiss that had hit him narrowly 3 hours ago, though the color had faded from his cheeks his mind was still stuck on the subject. "Does she really care that much…?" he'd come into the knowledge of her feelings through the kiss, it was like a wildfire the moment their lips touched and he could barely stand it. His blush renewed at the thought of the scorching kiss, he remembered it vividly as if it were happening once more.

"So there you're hiding cuz, I was looking for you, ya know?" he looked up in time to see that his cousin Tomoe had been standing behind him, her hands on her hips and her face lit with a bright grin. "Tomoe, that really…-" He found himself cut off by Tomoe quickly, "It was about time you! Come on, don't tell me you didn't notice that she was jealous and liked you?" her face was lit with a grin and a little giggle afterwards, he made a light frown as she hugged him; though he returned the hug without much thought to it.

"What do you mean she likes me?" he said even when he thought of it as stupid to ask, "Oh don't play dumb with me, I could see it from when we first met and I was hugging you." She laid it on thick and had gotten right to the point of showing him just how oblivious he is towards things. He went back to the thought and it hit him like a ton of bricks "She did growl at her…" his mind repeated the harmless observation which in turn made him smile without him knowing why.

"I bet she's looking for you again and don't you dare even try to run, I won't stand for my cousin being a chicken around his moment obviously she's special to you too." And while he tried to think about it, Tomoe lifted him to the ground and was already pushing him out into the hallway and locking the park door. "Get going and find her already! She's waiting, and we both know how impatient C'tarl C'tarls can be now." She teased him one last time, before finally he'd walked down the hall of his own accord.

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Aisha had growled in frustration and punched the wall, she couldn't find the lost kitten anywhere and now it was starting to piss her off. "Where the hell are you Haomaru!" she yelled in the ship's bay, she had been looking now for a good 10 minutes and was getting tired of it; she figured she'd have found him meditating somewhere now. She gave the wall another good punch and had glared towards the door, "Oh…if he's with HER again, I'm going to rip her spleen out and force feed it back to her." She realized just how irritated she was with Tomoe; his cousin had really gotten under her skin with all of her antics. She made up her mind to go and tear her into little pieces and maybe decide to leave her to heal when she was through.

But as she had started to move herself towards the hall, when she was met with the sight of Haomaru, who had followed her scent to the location and was smiling gently. "Hi Aisha, I was looking for you." Though he didn't get too far, for within moments Aisha had pinned him to the wall by the collar and she was glaring at him in annoyance.

"There you are! Damn it Hao, I was looking for you just where in the hell were you?" her voice indicated just how mad she was; she looked into his eyes which were apologetic and felt her annoyance dissipating a little bit. Though her grip hadn't been gotten to less, she let him down to his feet and drew him into a hug with a little sigh. "You're lucky I'm feeling generous today."

Haomaru gave her a little smile while he'd hugged her back gently and looked into her eyes gently for the moment, offering some speech to her finally. "Yes I'm sorry, I had to think about it…the kiss and all, it had confused me a great deal." His words of truth had brought the annoyance back to her quickly.

"Oh what, do you need me to draw a map? You didn't like being pulled huh? Well that's too bad Haomaru; if you don't get it I like you. You really are something else and I have to find out just how much you mean to me." Her words were spoken in finality, and left him only to give her a light nod; it's not like he was willing to speak against her or that he even disagreed with her.

"The same for me Aisha and I couldn't have said it any better myself." And while this made her smile she wasn't satisfied with just hugging him, she led a finger against his cheek lightly.

"Then you're going to take me out tonight okay? We're landing in port soon and you're going to take me out on a date understand? Well I'm glad there are no questions, be ready by 8 because we're going to have some fun." Her words left him full of questions and she wouldn't have them. "Now I said no questions Hao, don't try to speak." Her words hinted a warning, though of what he hadn't guessed and with that she had let him go to his feet while she stroked his cheek with her fingers.

"But-" "Damn it, I said no buts!" she snapped at him as she pressed her lips to his once more, this kiss easily more bold than her first almost shy attempt to meet his lips. This time she was confident in her motives and had fully explored the soft texture of his lips, while the kiss was demanding it still held a form of tenderness to it. Her eyes had closed as she held him closely to her, and smiled to herself when she felt his arms curl around her waist while the moment was shared. The kiss was a small passage of infinity that danced along the clouds horizon, she instinctually had deepened the kiss and had pressed him to the wall while she began to emit a soft purr and had led her tail to curl against his.

The moment was broken as Tomoe's giggle ran rampant throughout the hangar, Aisha drew back flustered both from how far she had taken the kiss and her anger towards his cousin.

"My, you two are like frisky little kittens." "That's it! I'm going to pull you apart!" Aisha's anger was something that most beings would avoid, but Tomoe seemed to seek it out like a magnet for pain. But she was stopped by Haomaru's gentle squeeze of his hand around her own. Aisha had stopped at the move and looked back at him with a light smile and simply ignored Tomoe.

The two together walked to the Hangar elevator and had stepped onto it, still walking beside each other in their own atmosphere. They disappeared into the elevator much to Tomoe's approval at the action, she nodded and had gone to take care of ship's business while the two had stood at the hall they would part ways for the time being.

"Well Hao, this is where we part for the moment, get ready for tonight I'll be at your room and knocking the door in if your not ready." She mused with him, something that made him give her a cat grin for once; it was faint but it was enough for her to notice.

"As you like Aisha, I will be ready before then and I will await you outside your door." It was Aisha's turn to smile at him while her fingers stroked along his cheek as she started down the hall, she was feeling much lighter on her feet and had grinned to herself a little. "About time…" she was glad she saw something of his thick husk of a shell crack, she was finally starting to get to him; she'd only just begun to dig into that shell of mystery around him.

"I've only just begun Hao, you'd better open up to me…or else." Those lost words uttered in her mind, she looked ahead of her with her goal set straight in mind. It was time to see who he really was; and apparently now…herself as well.


	8. Chapter: Solving the riddle

Chapter 8: Solving the Riddle of the Philosophic Blade

The pathway had only just been opened to the wily C'tarl C'tarl; she'd find her conquest was littered within a path of riddled with complex and narrow pathways that seemed only more impossible for her to get past. Barrier after barrier that wasn't quite so easy to fracture, even with her great strength she was finding problems within the might of his natural pagoda walls that held even her at bay.

"How…can't I get through..?" her voice strangled with irritation and a hint of disheartened emotion, she'd found that her savior had many issues of his own, he offered her very little to help him with, let alone to see her way through with.

Only words that offered forms of hollow relief to her from time to time, very often a word of confidence such as, "Aisha…you're helping me only with your support, giving me the strength I require to deal with this myself." And still such words haunted her consciousness as she lay in the bed, the single thought passing through her mind as she rolled onto her side. She knew that she'd lost sight of her freedom, this point now the idea striking her with subtlety.

"We need to go…we need Gene and Jim…" her face cracking a small grin, a little cat grin that stirred about old feelings within her heart. She did miss them, those of her friends that felt like family away from home; those who brought her sense of duty and even love. She knew then that she needed her friends and would tell Haomaru just where they were going next.

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His body thrashed softly in rest of the bed, as his form lifted within a blurred streak of cold sweat and wide eyes. Haomaru shot up from the bed in a rush, holding a pale look of horror for several moments that had lasted an eternity for him; a nightmare…the third within a week to haunt him.

"Again…why does this horror return to me..? Was it not just to save someone…?" his words came to him once more trying to solve the problems that had haunted him, those that had ransacked his precious sleep and gave him only bitter feelings left to gather inside.

He rose from the bed and had headed towards the bathroom, heading into the shower for a warm shower to settle his emotions and help him to awaken. While his mind examined the horrors slowly in the back of his mind, as he turned on the shower and awaited the warmth to come to him; he stood with questions swarming his entire train of thought.

"My mind...why am I haunted..? Did I ask for such terror..?" his mind wandered as the water beaded through his hair; which he'd let down over his showers, his eyes closing as he placed his hands against the shower wall now and let the water bead on his face as he rested down in it.

His mind swam as he felt arms wrap around his waist while he rested in the shower, this causing his eyes to shoot open after the initial moment; though the fingertips had scritched his ribs, and the voice had warned him of who it was.

"You'd better stay standing straight, because I've got some good news for you Hao, we're going to be going someplace to get your mind off of those damn nightmares you told me about." her fingers moved up and cupped his blushing cheeks, causing her to grin a little bit.

His blushing had made her grin a little bit, this hadn't bothered her in the slightest, her people obviously were less modest than humans and being so close, at the early stages of the relationship she was pursuing with him this meant nothing.

"Blushing already Haomaru? My my, you've a lot to learn about C'tarls if you're blushing already, this is only the beginning my pretty kitten...I've a lot more to show you. But first of all you're going to find that we're going back to the Outlaw Star. We need to pay close attention, we're going to fix this problem of yours, I want to help more than you say."

She seemed to growl softly to him, his fingers moving to her shoulders as he smiled gently to her, "Thank you..." was the only thing he said to her as his fingers had nuzzled against her gently now. She pushed his face back and just grinned.

"Calm down Haomaru, it's just taking charge which is what you need to do with your life and dreams once in a while." she said this as she gave him a light brush of his chin, then stepping out of the shower. "Now hurry up and get out of there, we've got to be going now; especially if we except this ship of your little friend's to get us all the way after the Outlaw Star."

Her comment left Haomaru in the shower leaning against the wall, just sighing as the hot water beaded down on his skin, "Fates...I've not understood just what I've gotten myself into, but I dare say that I've grown accustomed to wishing it upon me. Guide me straight as I progress this line together with Aisha."

His small prayer was the last thing he'd say before leaving the shower, taking his time to dry off and then get dressed once more, by the time he'd left the shower room the ship had already altered direction and headed towards the Outlaw's last location, they had some exploring and he was glad; Tomoe agreed to help them find the Outlaw Star.

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Later that afternoon, it came into Tomoe's hands that the Outlaw Star left port around 18 hours ago; this news being excellent for what she found as mere luck to find them.

"Alright, some good news finally; we're not too far behind and we'll have met them in no time flat." Tomoe's fingers had come together as she sat back in the luxury chair, she was a surprisingly skilled captain and navigator and as simply she told people who asked her "it saves me a fortune"; a simple sign that she enjoyed saving money in key positions where she could.

The time had Haomaru in the gymnasium meditating just after his regular coupled workouts, with his sword blade balanced upon the center of his forehead while he held his body in a contorted position against the ground had made for an odd position; this practice being regular so as to center the person with their weapon, joining the blade in unity was key.

Though Haomaru's peace would be broken as the blade's hand was snatched up and the utterly annoyed eyes of one specific C'tarl were focusing on him in narrow position, "Haomaru...what...the...hell are you doing?!!" the yelling had made his ears clamp flatly against his head as he'd rolled over twice clearly to get away from the pissed off Aisha, who followed his movements and put her foot to his chest and started to press down.

"You have this goddamned sword on your forehead with a point, balancing it in some odd way, what brings you to do something so odd as this now hmm?" her voice was matter-of-fact 'give me the answer or feel pain' in tone, and he caught that on a large scale of her gestures; thus quickly offering an answer.

"This meditation is meant to bring peace of mind and centering the wielder and it's sword to be connected as one in the focus of the mind. It is done with such precision that the samurai in focus would be able to slice through anything, as one's will can be focused through the blade and that will may be projected clearly." his explaining had come clearer than he'd expected, but her expression seemed to only grow worse.

Becoming a snarl, he could hear her knuckles popping as her fist curled up tightly, "And since when in the hell does any of this have more importance to you than me?! you'd better explain or you won't be able to move when I'm finished." her anger was something he quickly began to regret, as so he hated his own forgetfulness. His next action hadn't puzzled her, instead amused her to some mild degree.

"I am deeply apologetic for my lack of attention to you Aisha, I should know better that my sword meditations pale in comparison to you as my significant other; for this I offer my neck to my very own blade to suffice for this pale dishonor that I have misgiven you." his form spralled before her in kneeling position, with his long silver hair pooling infront of his face, covering the ground in soft silver locks and baring his dark brown neck to her.

This only served to make her grin, she had to admit how serious she knew he was...it was important; she knew he'd give his life to her if it would please her pride and honor. She placed the sword in it's sheath and set it down beside him, before rising and kicking him over onto his back.

Once more her foot coming to his throat, as she spoke, "The offer would be for my enemy to offer me, you who would be mine needn't offer me your neck, just your attention and feelings. Now get up Hao, you'll only end up dirty down there." she said in amusement, as her hand was offered to him to help him up.

There when she helped him up, she tugged him into a hug and stroked through his hair briefly, "Haomaru, you big idiot...you'd better not go anywhere on me okay? You are just starting to make sense and the last thing I need now is for you to die; especially before we figure this out. Just...don't forget next time alright?" her voice was a little softer as she embraced him, this letting Hao's face rest in her hair; this just allowing them both a moment.

Very soon they'd be back amongst Aisha's family/friends, she could see that living there would loosen up even this enigmatic feline before her, he was hers and he'd sooner than later figure out what that meant; both to her and to himself.

(End chapter.)

Going back to visit the crew of the Outlaw Star, figure to bring more life to the story, not to forget mentioning I've a few more surprises for you all. Take care until next time, R & R.


	9. Chapter:Meeting up: changes begin

Chapter 9: Meeting Up: Beginning Discovered

As the hours flew by, the C'tarl C'tarl was growing restless, even with her chosen sitting before her, since she knew that chatting wasn't his strong point, she made it a moot point and spent most of her time stroking through his hair. She still wanted him to know for a fact that it was she in charge and the one leading them on their path.

"Hao, what do you think of my decision to bring us back to the Outlaw Star?" she made it a light question, holding her tone so that she didn't sound too demanding the answer from him; she'd figured out a little more about her significant other, just that much further of his reception to her through calmer speech.

"I think that it was a very wise decision, this may sooner bring our current dilemmas to a rest if this current rest time there is spent wisely." He'd answered her eloquently, much to her own annoyance.

So she responded right back in a way that was direct and to the point, "And that means in English?" she painted the last word with her irritation, providing him with a clean clue of just what he'd started to do to her. Much to her own enjoyment, he'd blushed lightly and moved to correct himself.

"In short, we'll be able to help me shake off my nightmares, and maybe understand each other more clearly." That answer was simply rephrased; he knew that her efforts were focused about entirely on her, and that she wanted him to loosen up; speech and all.

"Good Hao, you are getting better at understanding already." She expressed her thankfulness for that, she didn't want a scared kitten however; she'd hope that through her mass of signals she was giving off that he'd pick up the right balance.

To this point she was amazed at his reactions to her, he knew so well how to handle C'tarl C'tarls in general, she'd wondered if he'd been dealing with them before her, though there was nothing common about her. She was glad that she was able to relay the message that she wasn't common and if it hadn't been for that fateful meeting in the bar; however tiny it was there was that small need to understand this oddly dressed feline and she was glad that she followed her curiosity.

"You know something Hao; you've been one of the surprisingly better things to stumble across me these past few years…I mean honestly, the men that have hit on me have been either stupid or ballsy. Though none went anywhere except to the gutter, it's you who've gotten through without perhaps the intent of it. Even while our meeting was small and you avoided any pursuit of conversation, you had this aura of 'enigmatic one' all around you." She said this with a little grin; it was that which led her to him, to up and leave her job at the moment and to follow him.

Though the thought had come to her that moment, she rubbed the back of her head a little bit, "Well I did happen to owe them a bit of money actually; I don't think it was the brightest thing for me to leave, but eh…you win some and you lose some." She said idly again as she pet along the top of Hao's hair once more; continuing just the motion she had been for the past few hours.

"There's no need to worry, my family too care of your payments at the restaurant you were working, there will be no kind of-" he found himself cut off entirely, as Aisha's hand wrapped around his throat and gripped him hard as she gave a hiss of sudden anger. Her hands had come swiftly towards his collar and gripped it, while the anime rage ensued.

"Who told you to pay off my debts hmm?!" reaching that rage of the C'tarl is what he'd done, he'd forgotten to explain the circumstances but either way he'd broken a key rule, disturbing the honor of a C'tarl C'tarl was a big no no, and that he'd find was what he'd breached.

"Aisha, a moment if you please." he said as he calmly raised his palm in front of them as she got mad, while he blushed a little bit, some in embarrassment and some else at his own foolishness. He'd forgotten to explain to her just what the entire case was and just why she was no longer in debt. But her anger at least subsided as she gave him a keen eye.

"And just why should I stop hmm? Got something to explain all of this messing with my personal honor stuff huh?!" the heat of the moment seemed to amuse him slightly, though he offered a gentle stoic face to her as she released his color but still remained upon him, hovering over him closely with an annoyed eye.

"Now I know you have reason to be angry, but the explanation is rather valid I'd have to say-" she cut him off and had pressed her finger to his throat lightly, he knew the warning all to well from just earlier it meant "your wasting my time" and to get to the point.

There was a brief moment of silence between them during this moment; she looked down at him with that look of annoyance, until it became more of a smirk from her now. He waited to see her action, that same feline curiosity that had led him into trouble often as a child.

"Well if you won't talk...well I can always make you talk Hao, either talk or face a...penalty." her gaze traveled down his body, and well had settled upon her raised knee, pressed to his vital points...enough to make him jump, he just nodded and cleared his throat.

"Well what happened is first, my family came into note of you when we had gone to the planet of hot springs some time back; during that time my family was making you an honorary traveling member of my household because you went with me, that places you within our rights to treat you with respect." with this point taken, she began to loosen up her threat just a little bit.

"While this was in notice, my mother made message you were record, this just after the Pseudo King incident when we were aboard to Outlaw for the short time. And shortly after that well, my cousin Tomoe came into the picture...she was prodding at you to test your nerve. A lot of the way, testing your reactions." he was stopped by a sudden growl from Aisha, and felt the knee press against him.

Aisha's eyes had become a little clouded, the beginnings of just maybe a little possession coming into play; just a little tinge of it. "Well she's a pain, especially for a family member of yours. But she was smart enough to comply with me; otherwise I'd have torn through her little ship, with her opposing me or not." the words spoken with pride that he could indeed understand and admire.

Taking the silence as a clue to continue, he moved on before Aisha could give him another 'reminder' of the penalty for not talking of course.

"Tomoe saw you kiss me in the bay area, and she was so happy that she made the call to my parents and family, she let them know just what happened; and so you know my family considers a kiss the seal to a deal of being a significant other. And from there our rules of tradition are clear and strictly adhered to by the families. It is as the tradition reads and I quote 'A significant other is tied to that chosen of the family, any affairs of the significant other becomes the business of the family; and it is up to them to honor that other by ensuring all affairs are set in order.', so...following tradition they fixed the debt." his words recieved a soft grin from her.

The grin had made him blink a little bit, he wasn't sure whether to be defensive, surprised, ready, or lax...he just blinked in a mixed state of each just about. Taking notice that her grin grew into a Cheshire grin as she tapped his nose with her claw tip, moving her leg to his side as she sat on his stomach.

"Well in that case, I suppose its okay then, but you'd better tell me these things ahead of time. I mean honest, I almost had to hurt you because of your not telling Me." she stated things to the fact that it was his fault, and to her expectation, he'd prove to her again he was the right choice.

"As you are right partway Aisha, it is my lack of telling you that is foolish, but also your lack of asking that lead to our misunderstanding. However I do apologize for this extending to the point it has." He did speak one last word, before she cut him down and just kissed him.

The kiss was short notice and what she planned for him, a surprise to the feline samurai, his intent was to speak even more words; while Aisha was simply planning to have him quiet and enjoying the sweet pressure of their lips being together. Something that she'd pressed just a little further than most kisses, the relationship was progressing at a fair pace in her eyes, and for Haomaru it was...more unknown to him as was the path he walked.

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The Computer's voice spoke up and had awakened Tomoe, whom was in the captain's chair sitting back in the seat. Her eyes had half opened and then opened the rest of the way, "The Outlaw Star has been located, opening channel to the Outlaw Star as we speak captain Tomoe." the mechanical voice spoke with the cold emotion, that had so annoyed her to no end.

"Computer, remind me to refit your personality chip, it seems you've burned your other out." her answer came as immediately as she'd finished speaking.

"Negative Captain, the Emotion chip is working in all setting and parameters, it has been enabled it's quite simple, this interaction didn't require an emotional response." the computer cold hard fact again had annoyed Tomoe.

"Right, gonna fix that and that stupid attitude right quick and in a hurry." she uttered as she rose and moved to the communication station.

She'd pressed every such numerous button required to open a channel, which was another pain for the lazy feline; whom wanted to return to her catnap quite soon. She gave a soft grin and had tapped on the keypad, switching monitors to focus in on Aisha; who she had no doubt was with Haomaru.

"This should be a hoot." she told herself, well knowing and hoping to piss off the C'tarl one last time, just before they'd separate here.

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The timing couldn't be anymore perfect, Aisha was resting on Hao's stomach still, but surprisingly tame for the moment. As she idly played with his hair and continued to stroke a line along his chin with a softer smile on her face, it seemed in this moment of infinity she was getting to realize how much she did care about the fool Samurai beneath her now. "Hao...don't even think about cutting your hair, I love your hair's length and the longer...the better." she said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"You look pretty enough to be a girl, but still with that chin line are handsome enough to remain a man, just enough of both that I can enjoy it." though the moment of ruin was right upon her...

"Wow, same for me too Aisha, I have to agree he does look like a little girl sometimes with that hair." she held back a giggle, as she saw Aisha's hair almost stand up on end, felt the anger fuming off of her as Aisha's eyes turned, with a feral rage in them that was a little chilling.

"Goddammit! I told you not to do that didn't I?! Popping up on a moment like that, I should rip your head clean off!!" Aisha's rage and fuming threats had been slightly animated, the graphics well in open continuing as she continued without the benefit of intelligent speech, and Tomoe was just cracking up on the other side of the monitor, rolling about the floor while her tail had frizzed in amusement, her dark skinned cheeks painted with laughter of the moment.

Though the moment's rage even as Aisha attempted to rise and march to the bridge to carry out her threat, Haomaru had gently stopped her stride by placing a hand on her own, just to stop her from rising entirely from his form. She'd feel both arms sweet around her waist as she sat on his lap for the moment.

"I apologize for my cousin Tomoe's foolishness, but...please don't let that ruin what you've created. I've never quite felt such...feeling from you Aisha, I hope only with the time that I'll be able to show you...to reflect this feeling that lays within my heart as well." the words spoken from the often enigmatic feline had for once been clear as day, none of the philosophy interfering with his heart's message back to her.

And just during that moment it seemed to be factual that she was touched, her eyes glittered for a moment as what it was her heart being open to him. Aisha's fingertips just rose to his cheek and cupped it lightly a moment before leaning into his embrace, while Tomoe's ranting had just faded away soon enough; since even she knew terminal moments of such importance. Finally...the start of a firm beginning and so in Aisha's heart and mind, she knew the secret was being back with her friends.

(End Chapter)

Thanks for the kind review there, gave me the will to write faster heh. So here you are friends, have another fun dosage of fun.

The next chapter they'll be completely aboard now that the trips over, till then stay tuned.

Till then R & R


	10. Chapter: Thrown back into the Mix

**Chapter 10: Thrown back into the Mix**

The ships had found each other soon at Space dock, Tomoe's ship coming aside the Outlaw Star and began transfer plans of Aisha and Haomaru to the ship. It took a fair moment of Tomoe's brief explanation and Aisha's loud yelling at Gene that got them aboard, they'd be staying with the crew for a while it seemed, in the devious C'tarl's plans it was to break the enigmatic Haomaru's shell much the same way that her own shell was cracked open; it wouldn't fail her.

The transfer took a short while of focus and determined moving, there wasn't much from in supplies or clothing that Hao traveled with across space, he had a very small knapsack full of several sets of clothing, getas, sword care products; including a weight stone and sharpening stone. While his pack was strange, it was expected in Tomoe's eyes though she noticed that Aisha traveled with almost nothing for clothes; it clued her in easily.

"You don't have any clothes besides those few do ya?" her voice came momentarily cracking into soft giggles, though they were silenced by a growl; after the punch from Aisha last night she knew too much would earn her a punch. But her face straightened out as she stood next to her.

Aisha blinked at the sudden change of her look, and then jumped when Tomoe had brushed down her sides lightly; measuring over her waist with her hands it seemed no less. Before Aisha could get mad, Tomoe spoke up to answer her curiosity about the measurement.

"Well we're about the same size, I have clothing that might suit you Aisha. I offer you some from my expansive wardrobe; those you can keep as your own at least until you can build one back of your own. Out of the sheer will for you putting up with me." She gave a fangy grin; while it was in play she seemed to mean it about her putting up with Tomoe's actions so far on the trip.

Aisha's look had changed slightly; it broke into a soft smile as she gave Tomoe a good healthy slap on the back for her kindness. "I like that thank you for your kindness; it's a rare treat from you. Especially for you not to continue on like some jackass." Her words still made Tomoe grin; she led Aisha off while Tomoe winked at Hao, this meant she was going to try to influence her choice of clothing no doubt.

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"So what do you think of my closet?" Tomoe's words nearly echoed off of the back wall as she turned on the lights for Aisha to see the vast walls covered in clothing, kept in order of tradition, formal, casual, relaxed, etc. with the list. It seemed surely that Tomoe had a vast taste and her position let her have a large gathering of clothes to use for about anything.

Aisha's eyes focused on traditional, she saw Haomaru walking around in his Kimono everywhere, even in focus he looked so graceful when he wore his Hakama and it held a strange appeal to her eyes. She drew in closer and began to sift through some of the kimonos, taking them along her arm and gathering several ones that caught her eye; she found with design of lotuses and water lilies along the outside, in a beautiful pink, red, and gentle pigments of the flowers along the yukuta's length. Another was a full length kimono with kanji she hadn't recognized, but the strong black and red colors, and fusion into cobalt and several arrays of other colors had her choose it as a second. The other two had been a slim fitting kimono she was sure to hug her body the way she liked, the color a simple white hued kimono with a white sash. The final of the kimono had been one with serene waters of a lake and surrounding lavish trees and peaceful sights, something she liked for its calm presence.

Sifting through the other clothes was more a breeze, she took several casual clothing sets, some skirts and dresses with appropriate garments all too and fro about it, even some formal wear just incase they might need it, she doubted it but one could never be too careful. Her favorite area was the nightly attire, to which her secret to taking a few interesting teddies, night gowns was intended to woo her roommate. She had some plans in mind of breaking him by means of her beauty as a step along the way; that seen as the night gowns and several teddies were clearly translucent. They left enough modesty to make one imagine, while revealed enough that even Haomaru and his clear mind would **want** to think about it.

"Hee hee, you have plans I see. Take a few garters, with killer legs like yours; he'll be drooling over you in no time flat I'm sure to believe that. Aisha I really wish you luck with seducing him, it'll be good for you both that you chip away at his will." She shared a hug with the C'tarl C'tarl before she got on her way with her few bags of clothing.

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Haomaru had been waiting for her with careful meditation, as he balanced his sword on his fingertips and held the blade up on the end; he was amusing himself and training a little more at once with an action such as this. He was really just glad to get away with some reckless like this once in a while.

He held the sword in focus up on his palm, the idea being if balance was achieved with the blade, that the sword would be more graceful in hold and less dangerous to the user of the meditation and exercise; there was many a strange meditation that he'd conjured up to test himself. None that were any more or less life threatening than before to him, but he hoped she wouldn't catch him; Aisha made it clear that he'd never get the chance to make any mistakes because she'd fix him first.

He all but knew he was right, and by the first sound of footsteps, had quickly taken the sword down and sheathed it away. It was just on moment since Aisha had just entered the room with a bright smile on her face; the words that came next were the simple reason.

"I'm done getting clothes! Let's get onto the ship already; Gene's probably been missing me too much. The worthless bounty hunter's probably been miserable and bored." Her words brought a soft goofy smile to Tomoe's face, but she said nothing for sheer fact she was getting along with Aisha as of late.

Haomaru picked up his small sack, plus extra that he'd had aboard from the last few times that he had visited with Tomoe.

"Well, I'll miss you again Hao, it's always good to see you. And you too Aisha, it was great fun I must say. Most I've been amused in some years." She said with a grin that got a soft snort from Aisha.

"Well I'll say for you that it was the most annoying time I've had in a number of years, though you're the first girl not to faint from pissing me off…You definitely have balls, I'll give you that." She was hoping to get her a little annoyed with it but nope.

"Why thank you, big brass balls much like yourself." The words had barely left Tomoe's mouth before she'd pissed off Aisha.

"Why I oughta rip your lips off of you…oooohh…" she growled and counted to 3 slowly, she couldn't make it to 10 and she knew it.

She turned and had walked from Tomoe's ship, moving down the catwalk at the station. She was a bit eager to be back home, what she considered one true place to her that she belonged…it wasn't a temporary place that she'd stay at some point; it was truly a home for her away from home.

Haomaru followed her after giving a hug to Tomoe, and Tomoe well grinning at him since she obviously knew it was going to be a rocky road ahead of them. But it was nothing that she was sure he could handle. He knew he had to loosen up quite a lot still; he'd started and now he had to continue on his way. Though words broke him away from his train of thought.

"So Hao, do you have any expectations?" her words were lit with some amusement since she knew what more to expect. She noticed his eyes closed as he slipped into thought about the question; something that annoyed her slightly. "Well?" her tone was carried a little high for him to hear to tell her mood.

"Umm… I'm a little excited, since I'll be staying not with just you, but so many famous faces. The famed Twilight Suzuka I hear is still aboard, Jim Hawking the young computer genius. There are many people on board that I am going to be proud to meet."

She was amused by his knowledge of them, he'd named almost the entire crew, and she just stroked her fingers through his hair as she looped her fingers with his afterwards. She took to walking next to him, she was happier now at this moment than she had been in quite a while; back with family and with someone she'd began falling for slowly.

---------------------

The two were greeted by Jim, Gene, and Melfina; those of which hadn't had much time to know Haomaru when he was aboard for a small trip before. Jim had run up to Aisha and gave her a big hug, which was carefully returned to him.

"Aisha! It's been far too long, even if it was only a short while ago. I didn't get to spend too much time with you and-" he was cut off by her finger coming to his lips.

"It's alright, Jim we have plenty of time now since I intend to stay with you guys for a good while. We're going to be breaking down Haomaru's shell, just like you guys did with me."

Gene grinned as he looked over to Haomaru, and had started to poke his back and well speak up. "Ooo, so you must be like uptight like one couldn't believe, when Aisha got here it took months. So you're her beau or something? You two are awful close." The questions were stopped there to give him time to answer.

"Well I'm not too uptight; she just thinks I'm too enigmatic for my own good I guess. I try not to be. And as for the other question, yes we are seeing each other now. I have no thought in my mind that would give her the mannerisms of her thought process to have her perceive that I'm too 'mysterious' if you'll forgive the word use, for my own good though." The words left his lips, and had left Aisha grinning.

"The hell does all that mean?" now this didn't Gene was a fool, it was the odd wording that made what Hao just sound much more complex than it's nature overall. Jim had given a grin and nodded.

"I understand your thoughts, but that right there is an example. Heh, no worries we'll have you kick the habit of long drawn out speech in no time." Jim just patted Haomaru's shoulder and gestured his hand before him now.

"Welcome to the Outlaw Star, I'm glad to meet you on a more formal basis; I'm Melfina." Her cheery disposition had Haomaru smiling already, he moved forward and took her offered hand and shook it.

"I am Isobe Miittou Haomaru, Son of the Grand Instructor of the Shoreline Blade, school of swordsmanship." He bowed his head to her, having given the full extension of his name now; getting a laugh out of Gene.

Aisha quickly silenced the laughing bounty hunter, "Enough out of you, he's formal a lot of the time and we'll be breaking that habit. This is a pretty big line of work, I promise you that Gene. He's a complex guy, but together we've got it." She was certainly assured of that.

She wasn't going to put up with his words; she smiled and started down the hall since she still remembered the ship well.

"Come on Hao, we're going to our room; my old room. It's still together…right?" her glare made Gene jump a little, yep it had been a while without having her here; but he cracked a smirk.

"Yep, still together but not real clean, since no one has done much with the room-" his words were cut shy.

"I took the liberty of cleaning the room and setting it for our guests Gene." Her words had Haomaru bowing again, and Aisha just taking his hand and yanking him on down the hall.

The two disappearing into the second room down the right hall; she was going to get settled and show him around the ship. No doubt, there was much for them to spend time doing. Then she'd start with her 'family' and start breaking his cocooned shell. The adventure was just getting a little more interesting.

(End Chapter)

I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it.

They arrived as of this chapter, and next Chapter the antics will start .

R&R okay?

-Quent


	11. Chapter: Where Life left off

Chapter 11: Where Life left off, is renewed

It seemed that life had never once stopped for what it once was, Haomaru had changed slowly aboard his cousin's ship; but life aboard the Outlaw Star seemed to progress almost twice as fast for him. It was something that he fell right into and found himself at home with the fast pace of life, though at first it had been a struggle for him. The day started often close with Aisha and it would end with her and he that much closer he found.

"Hao? What are you doing up so soon?" Aisha yawned as she sat up in the bed, dressed in a kimono that she'd chosen as her own; she loved the satin/silk combination of the cloth. It had freely wrapped around her curvy form, smoothly caressing her skin and was almost plush to sleep in. She rose from the bed with a purr, stepping out to the floor; giving off a grin since she found why Hao hadn't answered her.

Hao's mind was on the plane of another existence, he was meditating with the practiced grace and focus that many of his fellow students had envied in him. His mind envisioned flowing clouds in an ever graceful path, it was the way that that his thoughts led him to his inner self. He brought the serenity and grace of the world with him often, seeming flawless in this practiced art. One wouldn't know it by common, but he had been at this for a number of hours and was only just recently freed from that ever present waking himself from the state. All was well… then he felt his body tackled down to the ground.

"Hee hee, trying to leave me all alone Hao? You've been meditating while I was asleep, now you've got some morning time for me. Just before things start to pick up, you should get used to this and fast." She mused and stroked his chest with her fingers, just smiling as she looked at his silken hair as it hid his eyes from her. She did grow to enjoy that most about him, was the serene look in his eyes so constantly.

"You're right about that, Aisha…you entreat me to so much love. I can only do the same, to such a wise beauty." He slid his fingers along her cheeks, though a soft pink tint was in his cheeks. He still seemed to be forward in his emotion, his lips soon gently pressing a very soft kiss to Aisha's lips; it was something that had finally become regular to him. Giving her this small gift he found often made her purr; he could tell she enjoyed these chaste kisses they shared.

She curled her leg over his waist and sat upon him idly, purring as she held that kiss just a little longer. Her hands wandered over his chest idly, just rubbing over his chocolate skin and the thin hairs that lined it; like a soft cat fur it was gentle and just the way she liked. She drew back from the kiss and looked at him with a satisfied smile.

"You continue to kiss me like that and we'll proceed just at the right pace, I am glad to see you've become an adept at kissing me." She said that with a teasing smile, though only got a soft purr from his lips as she nuzzled under his chin and rests herself against him.

They remained laying down for the latter of a while, just for the rest of there hour before things began to fly off the handle.

-----

There was a loud knock at the door that was more like banging; it was Gene passing by the door, deciding to let them know what time it was.

"Hey you two! Wake up and stop cuddling and what not, we have a ship to keep in shape eh?" he made it more of a joke, since that it was Jim who kept the ship in near top shape often.

While not the only one who did the work, it was common knowledge that Jim was a young genius who always used his wit to ensure that Gene was in the best standing he could be with the Outlaw Star. Aisha helped and Hao had grown used to helping her with what she did, it was a growing understanding of the current functions that he'd serve on the ship; he still found his time for training despite the use for maintenance and living.

By mid day he found himself in the room of the ship they'd allowed some kind of 'training' to be done, it was one he found was nearly perfect for the advanced half of the shoreline blade style to be used. He was undertaking some of the harder skills to master that were still kept on scrolls, he drew the katana blade and raised it above his head; his knees bending as his bowed his knees a little bit; bringing the sword back in his crouched position for a 'fang thrust', his speed was simple but amazing as it came forward.

A fierce sword thrust that pierced right through the air, creating a vacuum around the end of the blade it; that was the basis of the technique most of all it seemed. The number 1 of overall 4 techniques that were written on the scroll, as they were hidden techniques to be used only in tides of an emergency; Haomaru felt things ahead weren't going to be smooth. The place they were heading? Who knew…but he would protect them with his sword, no matter what lay ahead of the blade's tip.

-----

Gene gave a yawn and looked to Aisha, who now was in the kitchen with him at the time; she was making some form of what she considered a snack. For the moment wasn't going to bother Gene as it wasn't his focus, he did however make an inquiry to her.

"So this is the guy that changed your life Aisha…heh, never expected to see you tied down by anyone. I didn't picture you for the kind to take a lover." Though the red haired outlaw soon regretted the words; it protracted an angry growl from her lips, the look in her eyes rather intense for such a subject he was finding out now was this tender.

"He's not a lover Gene; he's more than that…really a one of a kind nice guy. A little rigid with his morals and some of his mannerisms but its nothing that I can't fix with him. I like him and he likes me back, it's a deep and mutual feeling and I can admit it feels nice. He's not…someone whose just after a little tail, he'd really die for me and that is something that I don't think I'd want to happen." She was a cross between distant and a little melancholy with the way she spoke it.

Gene saw her reaction and gave a real smile this time, not one of his trademark grins or even a smirk. It was good to see an old friend who hadn't realized it yet, like he and Melfina figured out some time ago; about being in love with one another.

"Well if that's the case, you should finish up here and go to him. He's probably back in the room doing something, he finished his work around the ship with more grace than well; a cat even would. He's good and efficient at what he does, he's a good addition to the crew Aisha; and it's good to have you back with us." He said this more or less truly meaning it.

Aisha smiled at him, a little fangy grin that was portrayed with a kitten-ish mewl as she headed off towards her and Hao's room with food for them both. She imagined he was meditating or something, a nice thing but a habit that she would ensure he had less of. Now they were a couple and she'd show him the way to walk it; C'tarl style.

With the old crew back together, it would only be a matter of time before trouble found them; the Tendo King…who'd seem to be forgotten by Haomaru and Aisha knew well their location. It would be time to send the 108 Stars into action; a group thought to be finished and yet rebirth seemed so easily possible.

(End Chapter)

Settling into life back aboard the ship, life is a little brighter, but what means the return of the Tendo King? A new formation of the 108 Stars means a new threat.

Well hope you enjoyed the Chapter R&R .


	12. Chapter:Acceptance & Dreams Acknowledged

Chapter 12: Acceptance & Dreams acknowledged 

The days had stretched into weeks and weeks stretched into the first month that Aisha had been on the ship with Haomaru, though while there hadn't been anything too amazing happening for them, she couldn't truly believe just how much her feelings had grown for the almost too gentle Samurai that had been living amongst them. His training hadn't been slowed, but he'd worked in much of his time in the mornings for Aisha; he'd break meditation automatically and came to her without her asking. In that fact that he was deeply enjoying time together, kissing her and cuddling with her for extended periods of time seemed to be the main thing; even Hao going as far as to complete work ahead of time for them both so that they were able to do so.

However it was this sudden morning that Aisha realized that while it had been nice, she felt it time for them to move forward; in her mind she had asked herself a moment 'why did I wait so long..?' one voice whispered, one other retorted point blank on the reason because you love him…you respect his wishes. Those words brought up the memory that had brought out the memory in her quickly.

(----Flashback----)

One evening about a week and a half ago, Aisha had Haomaru on their bed and was purring while her tail swished; it was something that she had mastered keeping out since she absolutely adored Hao's natural tail, she mastered her half power state and made it second nature at this point. This also drew out her need…her instinct became almost carnal when she had made close contact with the one she loved. Even now she had opened his Kimono top and was rubbing up his defined chest while she bit on his lower lip before kissing him again; she was more needing of a deeper kiss with every proceeding breath.

"Hao…, I don't want to just do this anymore…I want more…more from you and more for us. I want the next step for our people, we've been together long enough…hmm?" she entwined her fingers with his and pressed her waist into his with a strong growing pressure from her powerful hips. "You can sense my need can't you..? I know you can certainly smell it…" she let off another fervent purr, as it was true that her spicy pheromones had scorched their room, intensifying her mood and the closeness they shared.

Indeed it had been affecting the samurai, he was looking at her eyes; while she'd notice his pupils were slitted like true feline's eyes often were, he was moments from likely giving into just instinct. "A-aisha…this is a moment we can share now…but, i-if we could…wait for a week or so…I will be at my zenith. My strength will be near enough to yours, our essences can unite." He said as he gave her hand a soft squeeze, he knew the Ctarl Ctarl's Season was upon her and it wasn't going to be easy for her to hold back.

She drew back with a soft huff; it wasn't in anger at him but still a frustration at not getting to continue. "Only because you asked me…Hao, you'd better be ready…mm; the day is going to be full of this…That will be the repercussions of you asking me to hold it back." She gave him a full smirk, while he nodded to the answer; she knew that he hadn't known the full depth of what she meant.

(---Flashback End---)

She sat on his main bed at 7 a.m. and she had already arranged for herself and for Haomaru to be cleared of their duties, she also reinforced the door and was glad that Jim had long ago decided to soundproof the room, it was all going to be needed for the two of them on this day. She had learned patience and was glad that she did, because now she was getting a little antsy about pouncing him. She had a surprise for him as well, since she was wearing the Lingerie that she had gotten from Hao's cousin Tomoe.

Her chosen apparel was one that beautifully wrapped her and allowed her curves to show off completely, it was soft satin that had been as thin so it showed off the line of her dark shin, it came down to her thighs and had opened at the base into a small skirt; while beneath the see through material had been crotchless panties though they weren't to that point that Hao would be able to tell, she enjoyed how they felt on her. They were almost not there if at all, it attracted her to trying their first time together while in this attire.

"I apologize for the delay, but I was readying myself for my time's beginning with you…but I hope that I am what you had expected…" he said this while kind of drifting off and blushing deeply in his cheeks as he had headed off on the tangent, he was dressed in some light face pain; two markings underneath his eyes, one finger painted art of a blossom on his stomach, and he now wore a loincloth that held a hole at the rear for his tail to fit through; this providing an unintentional free glance for her of his waist and the little bit of his upper groin, which made her hiss at him lightly since he was still away from her.

"Over here, now." She said in a demand while she had nibbled on the back of his neck, pulling him to the bed and laying him on his back. She rose on her knees and placed her left knee on the side of his waist while leaning down to kiss him softly on the lips as she settled above him; setting her warm groin right down against the raised end of his loincloth that she'd flipped up.

"Do you feel that..? Mmn, that's moments before we join…you are mine now and forever; never will we part once we join." She said it softly but quite seriously, she was giving him a part of her that she had saved until her heart knew she was ready. It wasn't until now that she had figured this out, she sat down with all of her weight against him and dipped her head to kiss him; while her waist wiggled and pressed down on him, fully intending to make him need her and so she could feel him grow.

Her actions proved to be highly effective against Haomaru; his will was quickly fading as he realized now that he had no need to resist her as he was ready now. Completely ready and willing to become her mate for the rest of their lives, since both the Ctarl Ctarls and his people mated for life; he smiled and spoke softly. "So do we now commit, this full spiritual binding 'Sui Nao Mian' or as it translates it, let's consummate this decree." His words had barely left his lips before she'd feel him eagerly grinding his hips up into hers deeply. Leaning up to nip at her neck while she rocked on him harder, growling softly and looking at him tenderly; nipping on his bottom lip as he drew out.

Aisha's warmth seemed to grow more in the excitement, she didn't seem to care about the fact that she'd never really been with a male before, let alone so close as she had with Haomaru for some time; but now she'd no longer be that way and she was happy for it. It seemed to make her smile as she repeated words that had haunted her for a time 'Never alone again…' and she knew that meant doing anything that Haomaru would stay with her. She was snapped back to reality, her warm nether lips had felt his feline hood perking close to her lips, it was amazing at the feeling; she'd been sensitive in her ears and her nose but such feeling shouldn't have been so good…not like this.

"Oh…, that feels nice…" Hao's words hadn't really best described the true captivating feeling that it was responsible for giving, his eyes had already hazed over as Aisha had brought her body up against his stomach, then made sure that his member was flat against his own stomach before she started to draw down. The feeling of her warmth spreading across his stomach, like beautiful glitter that Hao couldn't see; but feeling it and the residual effects it left had made the entire moment euphoric for him.

"Now, I'm taking you-uuhhnn!" there was the moment she had lost her own words, she slid down on his hard length; at that moment she took him into her and continued to go as if she knew nothing else. "Nnm…mew…" she made a small noise similar to a cat's mewing as she closed one eye, there was a rather sharp range of feeling racing throughout her body; it wasn't quite pain and more pleasure that was an amazing feeling, like a burning and electrifying shock that ran through her waist and up her spine. She had managed what she finally wished, as the first sweat began to bead on her forehead, she had sat at his base now; proudly resting there as she panted and was trying to just fathom all of the pleasure running through right now. She looked down at her counterpart and seemed to give a soft hazy smile at the look plastered on his face.

"Ashiteru…" he spoke the word of 'love' in Japanese, one of the many languages that were native to his people; he reached up and cupped her cheek gently with his left hand, scratching softly at her skin as she purred softly. He watched her hands, one moving to rub along his stomach and the other resting on his shoulder. His free hand reached to her waist and gently encircled her lower back, while he watched her beautiful body shift softly; just a light rock against his hips that elicited a soft sound from his throat, something close to a moan.

Aisha's face beamed with pleasure that she saw reflected in her new mate's face, she could see the beautiful depiction of passion in his eyes and it seemed to reach a warm point in her heart. She drew her waist back and felt his member sliding out of her slightly, before pushing forward again and pushing him back into her again; the feeling of him moving back into her drew a soft draw of breath to her lips. She savored the moments of this slow movement with him, more like they were both getting used to the pleasures they were sharing; she slowly began to grow accustomed to the wonderful feeling of being one with Haomaru now more than ever.

Between the two of them the passion of the moment had remained behind the motions, each time Aisha's hips had descended on Hao's lap, there was a fine echoed slap of their flesh beginning to resound about the room; joined well by the hot spicy scent of Aisha's pheromones and Haomaru's musky scent that were an amazing mixture that helped what the two would experience next together, lust of the moment. It was a beautiful erotic dance that had broken out between the two of them and by the leyline itself, this was starting to become better and better for them as the moments continued. Aisha's pace had become more confident than just the initial moment she had started to rock on him, now she started to cross it up by rocking backwards to his base and then thrusting down on him. Since the eroticism of the moment was as perfect as a picture well painted with passion.

"Mm, this is wonderful Hao but I want more from you." She stated it clearly as her hips descended with a little more force, pushing him into her with more friction and causing a rise in pleasure for herself, she gave a catty grin and placed all ten clawed fingertips against his chest and thrusted down upon him again. She almost mewled at how good it felt, she lashed her tail around wildly as she felt herself picking up the pleasure from the movements; her nails scratched his chest as she started to pump her backside down onto his groin with growing speed, it was a delicious feeling that almost overtook her need to have more it.

Laying beneath her with a sharp gasp and then shudder running through his body as he felt her sudden increase in speed throwing him for a loop, his eyes nearly rolled into his head as he felt his shaft assaulted by her delectable feeling walls. He was only able to feel her hips descending motions into his lap, her thrusts having gained in strength and sudden pain was more than exciting to him; the pleasure overrunning his body and just tingling his senses violently. His eyes shut, as both of his hands grabbed onto Aisha's waist and just held on as his breathing tried to catch up; as now he was gasping and moaning out deeply from her working body. One thing he did manage to do that showed passion and enjoyment of her actions since he couldn't speak was to gently wrap their tails together, shortly after managing such he gave her tail soft squeezes while laying back for the wild ride she was giving him.

The best of all was for Aisha was the feeling she was starting to get off of his shaft's soft pulsing in between her walls, it was more enjoyable when she started to realize just how much feeling was there; it was far more than just the sliding effect and friction it created, but more the fact that **she** was the one who controlled such with her walls' ability to squeeze and draw the pleasure out of her love. She gave a full on Ctarl grin and gave both of her inner walls a hard squeeze around the length of his feline hood, making sure he felt it even down to his hilt via her squeezing with her nether lips.

"Unnngh!!" Hao's sudden loud grunt crossed with a groan and a mewl struck a new look on her face, while he was just stunned really. He'd never felt such a squeeze so intense, but he did soon realized how amazing this was going to get as they explored this field together, oh…this was just the beginning of the true pleasure; especially with the stamina that both of the felinades had backing them.

--- --- ---

For what was the next two hours had been filled with the most pleasure that both Aisha and Haomaru had ever felt in their past lives, it was full of the amazing stamina and wanting of the beautiful Ctarl Ctarl still at work upon her now eager mate. She found it only felt better with Hao working his hips as well, though she had to let him know it was her in lead of their rhythm; she'd down this by delivering hard and torturously pleasured thrusts as well as growling. But they found a fast and hard rhythm suited the actions, as her hips constantly rolled downward and were met by an equal gyration and upward thrust of her mate's; she simply melted under the heat their bodies were generating.

But the end soon came, the pinnacle of Aisha's pleasure filling her entire body with a beautiful glitter of her sweat under the dim light of the room, followed by the stars she could have sworn she was now seeing; speaking not possible as only now she was using her lips for breathing and for groaning in the hammering pleasure she was generating with Hao's help. Then it was far from what she expected, an inner sparkle within her soul, there as her body just stopped and seized harshly as her inner walls fell into a flurry of spasm feelings.

Haomaru's body had been on fire since her pace had become even harder, faster than anything he'd been experiencing earlier with her; but such fire didn't burn on so long and not bring him too much pleasure without the accompaniment of pain. This pain seemed to be lost to him in her wonderful thrusts; he held her closer to him still and just shut his eyes as he saw an overwhelming glow rippling throughout his body. No words could describe the light he saw, all he knew is that his body was frozen and his feline hood spasming violently inside of his love, he felt his body lose hold as his essence shot deeply into her heat; filling her as she sat hilted at the base of his member, her walls squeezing him tightly and not seeming to heavy in its contractions around him.

Both Aisha and Haomaru had soon felt drained well of their energy at their first shared orgasm, Aisha felt complete and rested on her new mate with a satisfied purr rumbling in her chest as she leaned up and nibbled on his ear. "Wait until round 2 my sweet Hao…" she purred it softly to his ear and had traced her fingers through his hair, laying with him still inside of her and enjoying the closeness they were sharing. But what most made her happy was the placid look on Haomaru's face and best of all reflected in his eyes; his love for her and acceptance of her love for him.

(End Chapter)

A rather lemony chapter, but I think that Aisha and Haomaru deserved a chapter dedicated to the love they shared; in my mind its purely sacred and a wonderful thing when people can share it expression of love ).

Hope you enjoyed it, see ya later!

R&R


	13. Chapter:Love, Blood, & Beauty

Author's Notes: A little fair warning to people, this chapter is full of mature content, both sexual and severely bloody by nature, for anyone following the story who doen't wish to read about mating habits & bloody conflict, last warning from this point here. Anywho, on with the story.

-- --

Chapter 13: Love, Blood, & Beauty

It had been a most beautiful time for the two felines, resting in bed after a second tiring round together that evening; straight through to the morning. It had been doubtful that anything would be done the following day, Aisha warned Gene not to come to the door; she'd be very territorial for the next few days. Haomaru was going to be watched closely by her the next few days, she was looking forward to the fact that she was going to 'need' him that way for the next few days.

Haomaru had awakened to the little sounds of purring coming from Aisha, who was still afast asleep curled into his chest; their tails binded straight to tail tips. He was amazed at how well they'd stayed together, but he was blushing just a little bit since he had to admit; he was a little tired still from last night. His Aisha was a true Ctarl to the bitter end, she pinned him and took him a second time; forcing him through torturous orgasms. He loved that about her, since she let him know what wreal Ctarl loving was like; the swift yet deep and intensive love of mating.

He stroked the top of his sleeping lover and curled the blanket upon them both gently; smiling as he watched over her at rest. Aisha was even more beautiful when she slept...he could notice all of her gentler qualities, something that made it even sweeter to hold her while she rested. He knew how lovely she was awake, but it was rare to find her resting comfortably and a beauty at her rest now.

Though it was only a matter of minutes before she awakened with a little purr, smiling softly at Haomaru and rubbing his chin with a claw. "My pretty mate finally gave it up to me..." she giggled at her choice of words, she found it amusing that it was the male that was being the chaste one; she'd been looking for this from him months ago when they were dating.

But he finally did pay up to her and they had mated not once; but twice the evening before. Though she warned him of heat season and was glad to know that his breed also had a type of male's season come across them, it would make this lots easier for her to enjoy him; to have him be just as willing as she needed him to be in all honesty.

"Come on Hao, we are a little dirty. Let's go get clean." She said with a little flirty wink at him, well they were free to play, they'd gotten a few days off and both figured it would be enough for their fun to continue; all they needed was time alone in their room.

She led her sweet lover to the shower room and had run her fingers under his chin once he entered, she shut and sealed the door; slowly slipping from her nightgown. It had been a time that she actually felt wonderfully vulnerable while being alone with Haomaru, it was a feeling that made her predatory instincts flair out. That need to devour him came on extra strong, the need to possess him almost ruling her as she stripped down to nothing; standing before him to her bare beauty.

Hao did feel a little vulnerable, but more at home with it here with Aisha. She had done him a favor by mating with their clothing on and now it was time for her retribution that he would give her; mating without their clothing on. He imagined it wouldn't be a problem, especially in the shower, what made it even more exciting was how creative she was. He knew they might find some interesting positions with her still in charge of the action, mainly because she had a good head on her shoulders; his love was any if not creative.

"My Hao...lean against the back of the wall, I want to see you in first..." she purred, knwoing the hot water would do nothing if not make this feel even better, the water wasn't hot enough to scald them; and by the mood it was cold compared to them both. She purred and bit down on her lip, watching him walk into the shower and watching his grace. She smiled and stepped in after him immediately, feeling the water beading on her skin, she looked at him against the wall and bit her lip; scrumptious was the best way to describe him.

She moved over to his half leaning body and sat down in his lap, leaning against his chest with her clawed fingertips running up and down his chest and over his shoulders gently as she kissed the base of his neck; he was so beautiful it scared her a little. She took her claws into his ribs and had nibbled on his skin, running her nails over the ridges of his abs. She was going to have him a good thrust of her hips, she let him know what was coming.

Without another warning she slid herself onto him, giving off a soft satisfied sigh as she sunk onto his member; she pushed down slowly so her sweet Hao wasn't overwhelmed just yet. It hadn't taken but a moment to reach hilt on him, before her hips began to move; drawing back up and sliding back down on his length slowly. She worked her hips against him thoroughly, grunting as her hips demanded more action; from there she bucked down on him.

"Mmm, Hao...hold me close and tightly." she said it while a rich purr filled her throat, as she rocked down on him hard; caught within her throes of passion. The two felines entwined tails and fully embraced the feeling of the remote season they were in.

---

"Gene! We've got some trouble, something's coming at us and fast!" Jim called to alert his elder partner, something was trailing them in ether drive and moving with amazing speed. The scanners didn't seem able to identify it and it threw the ship into alert.

"Get the guns and weapons online, we're if it won't let itself be known; we'll just blast it into bits. Melfina, give us some manuvering speeds; we're going to get ready to tango." he used the lame term without a second thought; the other ship came into view and swept right past the XGP.

Gilliam spoke not a moment too late, about the ship's identity. "I don't know it possible, but the ship identified is the Horus." the words hadn't finished coming from Gilliam's speaker before Gene found himself staring at the ghost ship out of the window; though the voice over the communications almost made his heart stop.

"Unidentified ship, this is the Horus requesting aid-" it fizzled slightly. "under attack by Kei pirates, repeat-" the communications fizzled out into static.

Jim looked to Gene and seemed just as horrified. "That's...impossible, we both saw her...I mean..Hilda-" he was immediately cut off by Gene's order.

"Let's go Jim, you heard the communications, let's clear the line." He had the XGP turn in its tracks, immediately opening fire on the pursuing ships; he wouldn't fail to save her...not again.

-- -- -- --

The Tendo King's assassin stood aboard the head of the ship, surprised by the bombardment, he ordered the ship's shields be placed up, fire returned. "We must re-capture the subject, we can't allow it or the ship Horus II to escape; destroy the intruding ship...my leige wishes the inhabitants destroyed." Wanting Melfina had been of the past, times change and so did plans; as the battle ensued now destroying the XGP was key in line for the pirates.

"Move in closer to the grappler's ship, we'll take care of them first; immediately." He gathered his Bejeweled sword and raised it over his shoulder. "This will be fun, as we know they'll invade, I will be waiting." He said as he rose from his seat and departed for the belly of the ship. He had the ship running on machinations; mainly AI and or droids, he had no use for the weaklings that served his Lord.

"To face the legendary Gene Starwind and his rabble-like crew...that will be my honor." He licked the blood from his blade, stained with the blood of his last victim; the entire crew aboard the ship before. He slaughtered the crew of Kei pirates for being weak, for depending on Senjutsu instead of combat, he had no use for weaklings who could only use the sacred magic and little more.

"Too bad the fools didn't know, there is more to life than Senjutsu; there is indeed actual skill. We will see if luck serves you this game Gene Starwind, it has in the past; but it will leave you today." He said with a growl, followed by a grin. Even with face and body in shadow, the imposing shadow lume awaited the ship's clash...he would come aboard and destroy them all.

(End Chapter)

The Tendo King's choice in his personal assassin remains unknown, but he awaits the coming battle; will Gene and the crew be able to stop this psychopathic killer? Stay tuned xD

Till the next chapter, adieu

-Quentix.


	14. Chapter: Challenge of Survival

Chapter 14: Challenge of Survival; Hilda's Rebirth!

As if seeing a ghost from the past before the very eyes one person, Gene's emotions were in a still rage, most certainly had he come to love and openly show affections with Melfina; he knew where he was standing in love…but to see the ghost of Hilda before him, was gnawing his will of what was reality. It was without much thought that he had called the XGP into action, before he knew it; they were tangling once more with the forces of Hazanko, the Space Pirate who lorded over the 108 stars…though he was almost sure they had finished the vile beast of a king long ago in the Leyline.

His mind roared against his thoughts of what was real and fate, even if it was happening again, his mind's pursuit stood fast. _'We're not losing you again Hilda…'_Just the chance to see her amused face when he saved her, the fact that he was still on some small level of attachment with someone who could have easily killed him the moment his guard was down; He wanted her to laugh at him again…it was a moment to stand on the path not taken. "Haah!" he used the superior grappling arms of the XGP to rip through the attacking pirates while the nearly Derelict Horus had drifted by safely, he would very well destroy the Space Pirates this time.

-- -- -- --

In their room below, both Aisha and Haomaru were getting ready for action, gathering their clothing back on; Aisha gave a very annoyed growl, she knew they stopped with reason, while her Ctarl Blood was telling her she was going soft; everything else simply told her she was in love and she was happy for it. "They're going to pay for taking away our time together." She murmured, cracking her knuckles in an open manner; she looked at Hao and just had to smirk at him, the way he was poised on his knees in that tradition of preparation he told her about.

It was the near Samurai moment of preparation, a blank silence before one's small altar of incense and his sword clasped to his waist by the belt. His eyes finally opening as his head rose from the lowered position. "Abu Sau…Deivau Sekhau DImlakhu." He spoke these final words, before rising. (Minor translation of Katgna: 'With these final moments, I stand by blood and sword ready.')

"You are right in that matter, they will pay for stealing what personal time…that my Tulip petalled Sunshine were enjoying; and we will have that time back." Though once again his words seemed to make her laugh softly, she placed a clawed hand on his shoulder and turned him to her.

"Hao dear, remember what we talked about? You promised as little poetry as possible." She said it as she wrapped her arms around his neck and nipped his lip. "But the sentiment is something I adore." She said before nibbling on his lip, before releasing him. "However let's go, we've got company to destroy now."

Haomaru nodded to Aisha and the two of them headed out of their room and down to the lower bridge, Aisha knew Gene well, after destroying the smaller ships she knew he'd head to invade the head Pirate ship. That was where she and Haomaru were going to get first dibs on all of the pirate crew aboard.

"It's been some time that I haven't gotten to sink my fangs into the throats of my enemy; Damn pirates have a foul taste too." She said with a little reminded 'Nya' at the end of her sentence, though her attention was turned to Haomaru's reaction; that was a surprise to her.

"But I thought you'd only sink your fangs into me…, well let's make sure that you don't have anyone else to bite but me then." His words did surprise even him, but he knew it. She was rubbing off on him, he was aptly responding to her sexual innuendo; and that made her grin.

---------

It was easy to see that Gene had not been slacking, in any right case he had not let any skill of his drag anywhere; from his missile accuracy to the way he tore through the ships of the enemy were just reflecting his mastery of piloting the Outlaw Star. Even Jim for one moment had to watch Gene's determination to save Hilda draw out the very best that he had to offer, responding with a Sixth sense as to where attacks were coming from, as Gilliam alerted him he responded immediately. It was a breakneck pace and to say the least the crew was surprised by such things.

Though one of the more surprising things was Suzuka on the cannons, she had taken the offered position when Aisha had gone off on her own; rather than leave she had formally stayed on board and was welcomed to. After all missing her apt silence and better yet her Samurai code would have affected the morale of some of the shipmates. She was deadly and silent, applying the art of the samurai sword to the cannon's efficiency.

Though one modification had been Jim's extra Grappler arm modified for extension, there aside from the Cannon controls was a 'Hypersonic sword-arm' that allowed Suzuka to engage ships or missiles that had gotten too close. It was a very changed art form, but together the XGP was behaving to the equivalent of a battalion of ships as they lay waste to the scout ships and attack crafts of the pirates.

It was not to say they were going without being watched, it was the shadowed figure on the now all but automated ship who watched their actions with a smile on his face.

"The enemy is with skill, I can see it…his determination to save that woman; by the Leyline's wish she returned to her place in this galaxy and we pirates with their aim to destroy her. We knew that the all seeing Leyline would grant a wish of our great lord…after being defeated they thought they could walk. Now they will face the facts, as our Lord Hazanko's finest hour comes." He grinned once more, revealing a truth that was something even then the great Tendo King never knew.

This foe was not working in the name of the Tendo King, but a resolute living form of Hazanko who had in some way survived his defeat by Gene Starwind and Melfina; in this way this assassin might just be one of many on the way to destroy what has become the Outlaw Star's crew.

While the Outlaw Star made quick work of the pirate fleet remains, Gene blazed towards the main ship head on; he was going to finish this hulk of tin once and for all. As the XGP came in though, Jim was very suspicious of the ease that he had on the way in; all seemed too placid about the Ship's movements.

"Gene! Be careful when your boarding, this doesn't seem right; in fact I'm going to make sure the ship is ready to pull out." Jim was already taking some safety precautions since he wasn't really wanting to take any risks for any of them. He knew that the Space Pirates were never easy opponents and often swung back around to cause problems, it was just very annoying at more than one time.

Though Gene was paying Jim a little mind at best, he did hear his long time friend and had put the caster in its sheath while he drew two regular laser-sighted energy pistols; they were a common low choice to pick off the smaller and more useless of the 108 stars that he found the modified pistols that Jim had fixed up were more than enough for them.  
--- ---

Haomaru and Aisha led the charge into the now ripped open bay doors onboard the ship. Though it was a surprise to find the ship was littered with bodies, Haomaru stopped, taking Aisha's hand as he caught sense of this inhuman act.

"Aisha...it appears that everyone is dead on some level...they had been eliminated some hours ago, a special kind of blade that channels their Tao magic." Hao did catch notice of the damage done to the bodies, but Aisha crinkled her nose and looked down.

"How can you tell?" she wasn't sure what to look for to notice, since they all just looked dead and little more that was attached to it.

"The bodies lack no more than one cut, yet their bodies are mangled; as if some great force tore into them and used them like hockey pucks." he said it softly, shaking his head briefly at the damage; they had all fought to their mutual deaths.

"Who would kill their own kind?" she was disgusted by the act as she led her way through the bodies with Haomaru following.

"A Dishonorable murderer, likely an assassin." He said with a frown now, this was someone of great skill to kill so many of the 108 stars; certainly they were weak, but numerous they could at least prove a greater threat.

The two of them moved in quickly, it was Gene bringing up the rear since he didn't bother to examine the corpses on the floor; but finding their way to the Main bridge was assisted by guiding lights...and it was another bad sign.

Gene raced ahead of the two, while not faster they did let him do so; since they had been discussing some kind of a strategy, well taking a mate really did make Aisha consider a lot of safe points for the latter of the group.

-- --

"So they come...they come quickly." He was glad that he left the lights on for them to track, it was meant to be the purpose of their tracking the bridge down. Now the battle would be soon to happen and he'd show them an existing level of hell they never knew existing. "You mustn't keep my blade waiting." he said it with a smirk there on his face, as the bridge doors opened up he stood.

"Welcome guests, to the final moments of your life. Gene Starwind, Aisha Clanclan, and Haomaru...well I've been looking forward to meeting you." He drew the large Bejeweled zweiihander from his back, pointing the massive blade at them with one hand. "I'll make you sorry you kept me waiting, since your up next." He was grinning.

Their enemy showed his form and was threatening death to them, how would this showdown affect rescuing Hilda? Was she okay? Or was she in danger? The future would unfold before them, revealing more than the past they knew ever had.

(End Chapter)

Well as you've come to see, Gene's boldness leads him to join Aisha and Haomaru in facing off with their mysterious enemy who will reveal him next time. He eliminated all of the 108 Stars on the ship with ease, just what level of Sunjutsu is he using? Be the first to see in the next chapter.

Heh hope you enjoyed reading. Till next time Adieu.

-Quentix


	15. Chapter: The Battle for Life

Author Notes: I want to thank those who reviewed for this latest chapter and those who are still reading , sorry for all the lag but tests are upon me in late, I've been running around a lot and haven't been able to sit and write as long as I'd like to these days. But all has been coming into effect. I will be taking some of your reviewer ideas. I like the mention of Aisha's pregnancy; we shall see what comes from it.

But now onward with the chapters! Here we go, hang on for the ride.

-- -- -- --

Chapter 15: The Battle for Life: Duel of the Warriors' Spirit

Haomaru stepped back and had let his clawed fingertips draw the end of the blade up, he looked up to the strange warrior. "I find it odd about you...you are surely of the Kei Pirates, but what..? Why slaughter the crew? They were your men-" he was cut off rudely, this making him drop to a lower position; hand on his sword firmly.

"Heh...so ready for battle, we'll get to that in just a minute; as for that group I killed. They were working for the Tendo King, I work for Lord Hazanko." he said it coldly, glaring at Gene immediately then, who laughed at his words.

"Hazanko? Sorry to burst your bubble! But your 'lord' has already paid tribute to the Leyline and he's in the next world." Gene said with a smirk. "We'll be sending you to meet him shortly, that's a promise." Gene pointed both guns at him, he knew the senjutsu was a pain to deal with; this guy was probably some elite. He considered having to use the Caster, but wouldn't unless he was forced.

"Yes Gene, I know you sent him to the next world as you'd like to think. My Lord has returned at his own will, the power of his expressed through Leyline...while not commanding the Leyline he has still returned and he wishes me to send his regards to you and Melfina." he said it while he had started to step towards him, he looked over to Aisha and Haomaru. "You two wait okay? You're next." though he had only a moment to react, he found himself blocking Aisha's fist with the flat of his sword.

"Like Hell! You stupid muck bastard! Where do you think your going? Nyah! We're sending you onto the next world as well!" Aisha had gotten faster, her foot slammed across the flat of the blade and shot the assassin back in his tracks; her force was very incredible. As she rested airborne for a minute, she grinned and had thought to herself. 'Well...looks like my sweet Hao's training is good for something.' she was liking the results, she was faster, more alert, and more dangerous.

"Ah...you've had some kind of training? I heard you were brash, hot headed, and quite stupid; you Ctarl Ctarls are too proud." he was trying to provoke her, based on her past profile he'd studied it was very easy to provoke her.

"Why you-" she was stopped as she landed, Haomaru stepped in front of her then and hunched lowered to the ground. "Hao, move out of my way; I'm going to rip his throat out for that! I know you tell me to be calm, but like I told you; No one mocks the Ctarl Ctarls!" her pride was fierce and stronger, but her lover's tail stroked her chin and calmed her down a little bit.

"Please Aisha, will you allow me to defend your honor? I am only half, but I am a Ctarl Ctarl as well; he has done three things I cannot forgive. One: he directly insulted the woman I love, Two: spoken in an ill manner of our people, and Three: He has ignored me as a warrior and that...is my pride there." he said as he looked to her. "Will you allow me to defend your honor?" he said as he looked to her, he did want her approval; he saw her smile because he respected her enough to ask and wait.

"You may, but for one pass only alright? After that, we'll be fighting back to back." she made it clear what they would be doing shortly after this, he gave a soft nod to her then and had let his fingers return to the hilt of his sword.

"Well, I suppose I'll kill you in one pass then fighter or should I call you a Samurai? You possess the spirit and presence of one...so much to my annoyance, I will be eliminating you here; without Senjutsu." he said it then, he was bold wasn't he?

Haomaru ignored him and prepared for the only pass he'd get, really he was preparing it to be all he needed; he wasn't fooling around with this foe...he was going to use the blade and his sacred technique to take this guy down. He was going to bury him if he could on the first slash, this was getting too far along and it was far enough now.

Then the moment came, both warriors racing at each other with great speed; Hao had used a burst of speed from a surprise left foot then swift switch to the full out right, then he struck.

Clang!

The clash of the swords was brief, they had met and both were standing past one another, while Haomaru turned first; his side was bearing a thin line of red. "As I can see you have amazing skill." Hao immediately was forced to block a slash, the impact from it driving him into a backwards stumble.

"Damn Cat-boy!" He said as he swept the zweiihander from his rightside, trying to cleave him in two; though he Haomaru leaping over it and a foot forcing him to stumble back. "Ha, not bad; if it weren't for the armor I am wearing that would've been critical." there was a special wrapped layer of ringmail exposed now, it was a sweeping slash along where his lower intestines woudl be. "This is going to be fun!" he was excited enough to grin, while turning in time to block Aisha's fist with the hilt of his blade.

"You wounded him...that's gonna be the last mistake you ever make!" Aisha's foot slammed into the mysterious assassin's chest and shot him to the ground, during this mention she landed on his chest; one foot on his sternum and the other on his face. "Die!" she stomped down on his face, but yelped as she slid down over his face and fell against the brutish creature's chest; before then she was immediately struggling to get loose.

The assassin put the blade to her stomach. "One false move Samurai...I end your livelihood." he said nothing more, but Haomaru didn't move.

"Get him already! I won't be hurt by some stomach wound, this stupid sword cann-" she was stopped by the pressure of the blade pressing down more firmly.

"I was right about you Samurai, you can tell that her cradle of her life holds something can't you? It's nothing more than a fetus to science...but you can tell." he grinned and pressed harder, this making Haomaru take another stance.

"I'm going to rip your face...with my next strike, you are threatening our sacred union!" he hissed, gripping the sword tightly...as his body was eminating in a strong aura...the whipping blades of a powerful qi growing within him.

"Tut tut! What did I say? One false move from you and...the end." he said as he grinned.

"Hao..., you mean..?" She was looking at him tenderly, she kneed the blade from her stomach and caught the flat with both of her heels. "My god! You dared to...even consider taking my happiness from me?" She was in tears...tears of rage, her tail now lashing about violently; where had it come from...there was certainly no moon here. "You'll die for this." she said it, a heavy passion in her voice that spoke that she meant it every bit as much as Haomaru had; she was with child only after 48 hours and was clueless at first. Now she was upset, not with Haomaru for not telling her; but this monster daring to use her as some kind of hostage.

"I still have you kit-" his face was silenced, as several shots struck the center of his face, Gene was dual wielding both of his laser pistols now; the never failed aim of the famous Gene Starwind was more than enough to free his friend.

"Like hell you're doing anything!!" He had been standing back, for the sake of both the full Ctarl Ctarl and her mate's honor...for some reason he was respecting it; but when this assassin made the move he knew he was jumping in.

"Gene...thank you." she said as she had leapt free, landing aside Haomaru's side, while her new tail's formation was a result of her own growing anger and being upset. "You are free to help us now, he's got to die...your just the man to ensure we all kill him." Aisha sounded cold, her fists were clenched; she was preparing to transform to deal with this.

"You know that's all I had planned, this guy...he's going to the next world one way or another." he was prepping the Mana Caster now, this guy...he was as bad as Hazanko, maybe even more twisted; these thoughts running through Gene's mind.

Haomaru noticed the change of the atmosphere, and had given one deep breath, as if preparing to speak as the qi gathered inside of his sword and body; but he was stopped by a soft press of Aisha's fingers.

"Don't say a word, don't you dare apologize...I doubt you knew it consciously, we Ctarls pride ourselves for knowing bodies well; it has only been two days since...we came together Haomaru. Don't you dare apologize to me for something you only just found out, no...what **we** just found out okay? Just be happy about it...and also transform with me; it's about time that we showed him our true nature." just as before Aisha was giving the commands, letting him know who the lead of the relationship was; but more so also why her position had once been so high in the Ctarl Ctarl Empire.

The battle had just taken a step for the better...or had it? The assassin got up, pointing the sword at the three of them; he was laughing...almost giggling madly at this.

"Oh yes...yes yes yes! I get to play...I get to play with you, no longer fooling around!" He released the barrier holding back his Senjutsu art. "Let's take the stage lady and gentlemen..., the major act is about coming into play; Now...let's begin." his words were spoken with the shivering edge of excitement.

Now the field is at 3 vs 1, yet the composure of the mysterious assassin remains unshaken. After a quick skirmish, he still bares no major wounds; just what does this assassin have in store and what secrets of Senjutsu has he unlocked? It may all be seen as he unleashes his glee.

(End Chapter)

Well now quite a fun change isn't it? Seeing that the assassin was playing games up to this point, while that might not be a surprise; how about the fact that he is wishing to fight them so seriously? Well I suppose you'll find out.

And how about the twist? The creature had insight on Aisha's new pregnancy, to the way that Haomaru and Aisha herself were unaware of? What kind of Omniscience does the Kei Pirate assassin have? Stay tuned.

Until the next Chapter, Adieu

-Quentix


	16. Chapter: Dangers within Dance of Combat

A/N: Well this has been a while hasn't it? Since I've been writing to you guys like this, well don't worry, my story is not dead; neither is my wish to write it. I've only just come around with the time to write it, so not to worry I'll be getting busy. The fanfic has new life and an even better plot as you'll come to see in later chapters, well I'll get to it, as you'll say; here we go!

(End A/N)

Chapter 16: Dangers within the Dance of Combat

"Come now, this surely isn't what the great Gene Starwind has in him? I expected more than some gung ho attacks that ended so shortly when the game is just started; aren't you going to help your friends?" the Kei Assassin seemed to be boldly taunting a panting Gene.

"You must not know me well pal!" as a surprised action came from Gene, his hidden laser cannon going off and ripping a hole in his coat; he watched with some satisfaction as the large blast of energy slammed into the Assassin's face and forced him into the space captain's chair with just amazing force of contact.

While the Kei Pirate Assassin hit the floor and seemed by all means to have been defeated, Gene knew better and took the moment to look over to Aisha and Haomaru; he frowned since he knew just why he jumped head first into a one on one with this guy.

"You'd better be okay over there Aisha, I thought the Ctarl Ctarl were sure as hell not gonna stay down from child's play like this?" Gene's voice sounded out, a teasing manner despite the dire situation for the three of them.

"Shut your trap Gene, you know that this Pirate scum's not going to win!" Aisha was dragging herself back to her feet, it had been probably her fourth attempt to transform by the time she noticed she was unable to achieve more than half of the transformed state; her tail twitched in some annoyance now, having grown only half out; by now her body had gained more muscle mass and greater strength, even a bit more resistance but it was no transformation.

"Hao, what's up? Why do you think we can't change..?" her voice was quieter, but it voiced her concerns, as Haomaru helped her to stand again; she glanced over her wounds…there was nothing serious about them, she had taken far worse than this before, she also knew it wasn't her and Haomaru's child; this was just new and their baby wasn't giving her problems…was it?

Haomaru rubbed her shoulder and gripped his Katana while he stood up tall again, glaring at the pirate who was giggling like some madman, a foul creature of evil that needed to be put down for not his sake; but the galaxy's sake.

"Aww, think I'm a madman do you? And you're wondering why you can't change? Because I won't allow it! That's why!" the Kei's voice giggled again, knowing it would annoy those near him.

"Shut the hell up!" Gene's voice was one of one on the brink, he was thinking about using a caster on this guy; he had a number 13 in store, it wasn't one of those that he wanted to use…but if it would end this, he would.

"Tsk tsk tsk, if that magic didn't destroy my Lord Hazanko, it won't destroy me. As of now, my Lord is much stronger than some little Mana Caster Spell gun child; but you want to believe in it don't you? If you must know, this room is fit to do my will, my very Senjutsu skill to perform without the words needed." His tone was suddenly serious, to fit the degree of his meaning he was showing his power by forming shot orb in his hand and pointing at Gene; while the orb launched itself suddenly at him, Gene was ready.

"Gotcha!" Gene figured on some kind of stunt like this, he knew that weird spell garbage that this Pirate bastards had was far more than a gimmick; he knew better than to fool around with it. Instead he fired one of the testing Caster shells that Jim had picked up from a shop, someone was starting to make new shells…he was curious about it in truth, but didn't have time to ask Jim exactly where he got it.

There was but a moment as the two spells canceled out, this new shell…it was powerful and it didn't harm Gene. He watched the spirals of magic colliding, while he got up and made his way over to Aisha and to Haomaru, helping Aisha to get up from her stomach wound.

"Get her out now Gene, I'll be right behind you both, literally." He said as he was focusing the chi into the tip of his blade.

"Haomaru, you are not going to leave me here to pull some sacrificial garbage now! So help me, I'll drag you out by my fangs!" Aisha snarled in her annoyance, was he trying to piss her off with his heroism? She had love and she wasn't letting go at all, not while she held it by the scruff.

"Of course not my love, I know better than to anger you; trust me...please." he said as he continued to focus, while his Katana had begun to glow a nice soft red tone, something rather special no doubt about the technique that he was using now.

Hao looked at her and smiled, in a way that told her that he wasn't going to try anything funny, not to be rid of his own life when he had a future as a father right now. He had every intention to follow through and be the father of their child, he just needed to do this right, and he didn't want to have the moment...no he didn't want to let there be a chance that they could lose this battle.

"Quickly!" Haomaru had nearly yelled, as he had finished his focusing and stood up straight; with a red glowing blade in his hand, with a claw firmly gripping the handle as he made his attack swift.

The nameless attack was launched at the side of the bridge, right along the length of the glass; this slow moving cut by appearance had easily cleaved the thick window glass and suddenly then the suction began by that moment.

"Haomaru! Get your ass outta there now!" Gene called back from the corridor, he was carrying Aisha since she had been cut along her stomach; he was gone just like Hao had asked for them both to be at that point.

Just as Haomaru turned to go, he felt his shoulder grabbed, though he didn't bother looking back; that same technique was soon cleaving the face of the pirate; a forceful downward slash given with all the force he could muster in his left hand before he tumbled underneath the shutting emergency door.

"Gah…, you think you can leave? That easily? You fools will all go to hell, I'll be seeing ya! Ha ha!!" the psychotic Assassin hit the self destruct, though quickly he slammed his foot into the base of the machine and forced it to activate the quick countdown.

"If you don't die here my pets…I'll hunt you later." The words of the assassin said before he'd cast himself into space, through that great rip that Haomaru had cut; he was quick to do so without thoughts to his survival…was he insane? Well yes…one would hope that was clearly known by now.

--In the XGP--

While Gene had made his way back to the boarding claw that was one modified port in the side of the XGP, made for tearing their ways into enemy ships; though Gene had brought Aisha in and was already covering her wound with the emergency clot cloth there; designed to help wounds close fast, it took Aisha's yelling at him to check for Haomaru, though it was kind of late since the claw was being pulled out, and the XGP thrown in reverse at full.

"W-Wait! Unnh…Gene, what about Hao?! We can't leave him in there!!" Aisha's voice was distraught, clearly full of anguish; she didn't get to see if he made it, did he? He better had…the bastard promised her no heroics.

"Yo Jim! Did you find that Haomaru guy? What does Gilliam have to say?" Gene's voice was worried perhaps, though he was majorly frustrated that they were stopped by such a move like this; what one psycho could do, he was hoping that this one piece of waste didn't ruin their newly knit lives so easily.

There was a delayed answer as the explosion from the pirate ship sounded off with a chain of explosions, easily one of the bigger pirate ships that they had been dealing with; Gene shut his eyes and said nothing for the moment that he heard the explosions going off, since this wasn't exactly a moment that he was wanting to be dealing with since he had no clue whether their new shipmate was dead or not.

"Come on damn it, you promised Aisha, you had better have gotten your ass outta there." Gene muttered, he didn't want to see a Ctarl Ctarl upset; whatever they did would be contrived and he knew that as the case…overwhelming with emotion, he knew that she would likely cry…yeah to see Aisha cry; that was nothing that Gene really wanted to see such a tough woman have to stop and do.

There was nothing again, for the next 6 minutes while the Outlaw Star had escaped the radius of destruction, while taking some lumps from the destructive blasts heading out from the ship.

Aisha was dead on quiet, as if she just had ceased all function, maybe she retreated into her mind to find some kind of answer? She wasn't really sure what she was getting to, but she wasn't really looking forward to the answer unless it was that her stupid and foolish mate got away.

_'You'd better be alive…you stupid jackass! Oh I'm going to punish you for making me worry.'_ Aisha was still her old self, her mind was just working hard, she tried not to let any of those glittering tears stain the floor or her pride; she would not cry…no she'd just have some faith in her foolish mate.

"There is a heat signature coming towards you Gene! Gilliam hasn't been able to identify it yet since we were a little damaged pulling out of the destruction range of that pirate ship." Jim's voice hastily sounded out over the comm. with some obvious stirring.

Gene drew his Caster and pointed it at the door, just as he saw the figure coming through the door; this guy was fast.

"That better be you Hao, otherwise kiss your ass goodbye." Gene was dead set on vaporizing whatever it was without a second thought to it if it wasn't his new shipmate.

"Whoa whoa! Gene it's me, I assure you of that much." Hao's voice was quick to respond, well that or be killed by the Mana Caster; which wasn't something he was looking forward to doing obviously.

"I just took an extra minute, I am quite fine Gene." He said as he had revealed himself from the shadows, there he had some scrapes up his leg, and the small wounds from the fight with the bastard himself; otherwise he was quite fine with where they were and the fact that they were all alive.

Aisha said nothing to him, she just yanked him down to her side and hugged him around his side, some annoyed tears still lighting her eyes as she squeezed her fool of a mate moderately hard; she didn't have any other way to show how happy she was other than holding him so very tight. She just let off a little growl then, holding him close and strumming her fingers through his hair.

Gene had later helped Aisha to the medic bay, well the small room so that the two could care for each other's wounds; some of them were bad enough that even a Ctarl Ctarl would need some medical attention at a time like this to consider it.

"Just try not to give each other personal attention, please not in the medic room alright? The table doesn't have that kind of strength…Aisha." He said that with a grin, though he was already out of the room before she could grab at him.

Aisha's growl lowered as she watched after him. "That's Gene for you…looking to get his ass beaten even though we just came from battle." She gave a small smile, it made her happy to realize that at least for now they were clear of that bastard; they were safe and she was with child.

"I know Melfina will be down here when the time shows it's safe to come here, till then I will tend your wounds." Haomaru was already being the attentive healer.

"YOU are hurt too moron, why don't you just wait with me?" Aisha said now, a little ticked since despite what Gene said; she at least wanted to hold her mate against her close.

"Well my love, I would normally heed you; but right now face it, those wounds of yours need some attentive care right now and I can do so." He said as he gently laid her back, taking a wet cleaning cloth; of course having a good solvent that would clean the wound of any germs or infections had it caught any.

He went to work in some minor silence, while he was cleaning her stomach slash wound carefully and thoroughly, he was reflecting back to the fight, to that warrior he knew wasn't dead after their encounter.

_'Such a man was he, to wield Senjutsu in his defense…he speaks with his blade, but with such a character as he…I can see that he has a great deal of fun doing such things; that is nothing that I'd consider…good. He will be back, I will have tempered my blade steadily more by then; plus to train Aisha against my clan sword…' _His thoughts were on the matter at hand, if Aisha would defend herself; this would be something that she'd need to be quite ready for.

"Hao, I think the wound is clean enough now." Her tone brought him back from his thoughts, though it was spoken with well hinted annoyance; he was swabbing softly at a clean slash.

"Um...sorry, let me apply the bandage; the wound is shallow and not of great damage…despite the fact it was a dead on cut…how odd." Haomaru was questioning the wound, that man was a fighter and knew how to wield a sword with deadly accuracy; what was getting at by not cutting her too deeply. Though to his heart's relief, their future child was still alive and well.

"Our babe still lives, which is a miracle in itself. Now I have mate and child, I never guessed that I would have such fine success." Her tone was soft and serious for a minute, as if just reflecting on herself and the situation.

Though she found herself eye to eye with her lover and by this moment she decided it was too long, she drew him down to her and held him by the waist and forced him to lie against her side now; just for the closeness of skin and warmth from him. She wouldn't admit it now, but he really did bring a sense of security to her and that was what made this a sound relationship for her; well really the only relationship she found herself wishing to pursue.

"Don't you ever leave me, you hear? I don't just mean in the physical sense, I mean…you'd better not be a stupid hero; you turn cowardly and stay at my side…please Hao? You hear me? I don't want to lose you." Aisha was speaking seriously, for that look on her face was some fear, not fear for her own life; but for her lover that she was sure after seeing his wounds today, while he was skilled still he was far too heroic for his own good.

He just took a look at her eyes and then answered the question, since there was nothing that he was considering more in his answer other than what he was realizing, he had far more than just himself to worry about; she and had made a union and even had a child now. "Of course Aisha, I promise…I promise that I will stay with you no matter what." As he said that, he felt a strong squeeze around his waist.

"Damn right you will Hao…damn right you will, after this I think we're going to retreat to our room for some time off." Aisha said with a catty grin, her fingers reaching up and finding his hair, stroking along his scalp lightly and down the length of his shoulder and hair.

"What of our child my love? You will keep heed of our child won't you?" his tone was speaking somewhat of some concern, it was from prior knowledge as to how rough that his mate usually made love with him.

"Our child is a Ctarl Ctarl, what is there to fear?" she grinned wider and growled at him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and biting his neck lightly lightly; he didn't really have a say in the matter.

As the two lay in the medic room, later to be joined by Melfina; things at least seemed to be decent for now, even the Horus II now following a parallel course. Between Jim and Gilliam's fast actions, they managed to slow the ship down and would now get to see; was this true and real? Was that honestly Hot Ice Hilda as they remembered her? Was this even real..?

"Phase One is complete…regardless of which my Lord, the battle is their's for now." The words spoken from the blackness of space, ignoring the vacuum...as this voice reported to a higher power; yep…things were just getting back to normal right now, with a new adventure on hand, would the Outlaw Star crew be ready for what was ahead?

"Jim, keep us steady, I'm going to board the Horus II. Keep the monitors on that ship and space around us, I don't want any kind of issue going on…you hear me?" Gene was being cautious as hell considering what just happened, but with no fear; he headed down to the airlock, ready to see Hilda safe…she'd better have been at least.

(End Chapter)

I hope this chapter was good for you all, as good as it was for me to write it. It felt good to finally know where my plot is headed, sorry for the lag on the writing but school is a burden as common as ever.

I'm going for a better degree xD, which is the reason I'm still going to school now.

Well until the next chapter, I bid you Adieu.

-Quentix


	17. Chapter: An Old Legend's return

Chapter 17: an Old Legend's return and demands of a Ctarl Ctarl

As Gene made his way onto the Horus II, he had all sorts of hidden weapons; he could hardly believe what the hell he was seeing; there was no way that this would change what he was feeling in his heart. It was a build-up of all kinds of painful memories, losing her all over again…Hot Ice Hilda had become a close friend in the short time; the one whose head held a huge bounty, the one who saved Melfina for her secrets and for her help using the XGP. All of the things that happened up to the point of her death, Gene was still reminiscing on his way into the familiar layout of the Horus II; checking out the bridge first with all of his senses about him.

"Whoever's hiding onboard, come out now before I shoot; I don't care what you are, taking a mana caster shot? Isn't smart unless you're anything short of Ctarl Ctarl." His words spoken with that usual trace of cockiness/confidence which kept him going in the world, it was more than enough to at least normally survive by the standards of just about any combatant that he took on in battle.

For this he wasn't prepared for what came next, as obviously there was something different by the way some stranger emerged from the shadows immediately with speed that was greater than a human's, though she hid her body well and pointed a pistol at Gene's temple, she came from behind and spoke in a shaky voice, no doubt that something was wrong with her as it was.

"You…you come back through painful thoughts, you are someone…with red hair." She smelled his hair and then drew back, she looked at him carefully. "I know you…I do know you somehow or maybe you knew…knew my parent." The mysterious person spoke, by the sound of the voice; to Gene it was likely to be some kind of a little girl; or at least a teenager…that or she was just someone with a very high voice.

"Lower the pistol, it's just Starwind." That voice much deeper and confident, was revealed to be the elusive Hot Ice Hilda in the captain's chair, turning to face Gene and giving off a small smile.

"Hilda…, you really are back…" his voice was a little quieter, in some awe as the most obvious wish to just hug her tightly was repressed, Gene wasn't that kind of guy to lose his cool normally and he wasn't going to change that for the moment now even.

"What's the matter Starwind? No hug? Oh yes, of course you're supposed to be mature but you seem to be exactly the same as before; I might hope you'd have grown to be a real man." Her tone teasing as she rose up, obviously by that look on her face she was glad to see him.

Though as he felt the pistol finally lower and watched the shorter female hop in front of Hilda, his eyes blinked a few times; he watched the teenage looking girl hug to Hilda's side and nuzzle against her side.

"Who the hell is that? Hilda since when do you have little girls running around with you?" He asked her, obviously confused by the sign of this girl holding onto her now; who the hell was she?

‑­

"I'm-" the girl started to say, but was silenced by Hilda's fingers against her lips.

"A long story Starwind, all you've got to know right now is that she's my daughter…don't ask how or whose the father; anything more on the matter and I'll shoot you for being stupid, got it?" Hilda's tone was sharp as ever, and the look on her face said that she was very serious about it and that she didn't want to hear anything else about it.

"…Okay." He said as he looked at her, who the hell was that? Some kind of strange dark skinned girl, she was taking in the scent of his hair and other things as a form of identification. "But, is she some kind of damned cat or something?" He noticed her mannerisms and couldn't help but comment on it.

"She's Ctarl Ctarl, surely you could tell that by her actions." Hilda said most accusingly, since he'd been around Ctarl Ctarls in his time as a pilot and a bounty hunter; she wasn't expecting him to be stupid about it, but then she gave him a look that said 'enough' and there would be no more to say until she decided.

Gene didn't say anything that was tied to the situation and instead was making sure that everything was clear first, more or less that since Hilda's return they would be traveling together for some time and that the Horus II would follow in deep cloak mode, something new to the ship's design. And though Gene was against it at first, the half Ctarl Ctarl teenager would be staying on board as well; however separate from Hilda and would have her own room.

As the group now stood on the bridge, things were obviously going to be reconfigured a little bit since Hilda was back in action; he was going to see about getting her situated on the bridge as well since she insisted on it.

-On the bridge of the XGP-

With a little bit of time now free, Hilda had retired from her new position on weapons/ops as a new terminal that Gene had put in over the last year, adding new weapons and back up grappler arms had made the XGP even more dangerous; adding to its reputation as the Outlaw Star.

Of course given that everyone had a lot of questions to ask Hilda, mainly to see how she was and how it felt to come back by such strange means; it was very clear that she was in no mood to answer questions, though she appreciated the sentiment. She left them with Gene, to tell them everything that she told him and she was going to settle into her room; obviously things were weighing down on her a lot more than what people might've considered, there was a lot of things going on really in her mind and she wanted to collect it all herself.

"So guys, Hilda not only is back, but she has a half Ctarl Ctarl daughter who protects her with all of her might." Gene ended the tale, obviously repeating on what Hilda told him aboard the Horus II; it was just to make all things clear to everyone.

‑­

This last bit of information made everyone go silent; obviously that Hilda had a daughter? That was so old? How the hell did that happen? Though it's true that Hilda had a hidden past, having a daughter that was half Ctarl Ctarl stated the kind of union that had taken place.

"So who is the father then?" the words coming from Aisha, who seemed to be curious and was obviously wanted to know who coupled with Hilda in order to produce a daughter. "Surely the Cur will come forward and claim his daughter, if he won't I will find out who he is and force him to!" she seemed outraged that there was no father, she felt it an embarrassment of her people, if the father hadn't stepped forward yet; he'd better and if he didn't then she'd hunt him!

"I can't say Hilda didn't say anything and that she would reveal the information about her daughter later, it's nothing that can be done about it right now; we need to wait and see." Was the only thing Gene had to say, he saw that look in Hilda's eyes, it was definitely nothing she would reveal so soon.

"Either the father is dead or perhaps doesn't realize he has a daughter; it might also be this." Haomaru was ready to give this father a reasonable doubt that he didn't know or something to that effect, so of course it would be giving her a likely reason for not revealing it.

"Let's not think about it alright? It's something that was very important to her and Hilda will reveal it when she decides; she is our guest and new crew member, let's give her a little consideration." Gene seemed to be very concerned about her, and obviously wasn't going to leave her as the main subject of talk.

Given that, Gene had finally decided that it was time to let the crew be dismissed to whatever they were doing; obviously now it was enough that he was being serious, and he had his own devices to think about. Obviously now she was safe and that was important enough, he still had to consider the new enemy that they had fought previously to this.

--With Aisha and Haomaru--

In those hours that had passed on the time, Aisha was very busy with Haomaru training, her body was being worked to some greater limits; as she was testing herself against his skill, a feat that she was proud of. Making sure that he was getting to exercise every one of his very sword techniques while she gained a new recognition from him.

She ensured that he was flying through the air, to give her a solid challenge as she never feared a sword nor anything that slice; her skin and her fighting skills kept her from fearing them but her sparring with Haomaru was proving that those with a blade weren't weak, in that sense they were very threatening. Never had she seen such grace in her beautiful mate, his power and speed were worthy of her; as she seemed to be reminding him constantly, that he was her equal in combat and as her mate. Though the bedroom was a very different story with her, as she made it clear what would be done and she was in control 99 of the time; which to her liking, Haomaru was fine with.

"What a workout you gave me today my love, a magnificent fighter…you have improved greatly since we started this sparring, I find that your speed has picked up and your precision striking has also dramatically stepped up, your skill is something else my sweet; very much something I approve of, continue to grow strong." Hao said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a hand towel.

Aisha meanwhile was rubbing her sore forearms, though she could take the cuts from his sword and keep the blade from penetrating her skin; it was still rather fierce in the way that he struck with them. But by now, the wish to fight was boiling over and this quickly was growing into a more natural need. Something that made her tail sweep around behind her for, it seemed much easier to support a 50 transformation when one was mated, at least she found it to her liking since he naturally had a tail and now she could wrap her tail with his own.

There was just one last moment that was given to thought of what she'd do and she decided; that she wanted something from her sweet mate who was oblivious to her intentions as per usual.

"You know, you might figure that he'd come to me for loving." She uttered, not really anything but a little annoyed; but she also liked how she would break all of his concentration, to make him hers by merely demanding his care of her with little vocals being expressed.

She walked towards her meditating mate and knelt behind him, at this point slipping her arms around his waist and then licking along the side of his ear; which much to her liking made him physically shiver. As it became more obvious that she had his attention, she curled a leg around his back and let it rest in his lap while she rubbed along his shoulders, he was rather tense and she did find it easy to have her way with him right now the way that it was now.

It was all but a moment when she kissed his neck and then drew her fingers along his side, she managed to rouse his attention now and that was just what she wanted; she watched him turn to face her and draw her into his lap while she felt his fingers drawing around her waist, she curled her tail at his side and then growled into his ear.

"That's enough Hao, get me to our room first…I have something new for you today." She obviously was speaking of something that she was going to be revealing to him, something that came from her heart and was important enough for her to pursue it.

As Haomaru brought her to the room, she smiled at him and kicked the door closed, using her tail to lock the door while she bit on his neck and started dry humping him a little bit; growling at him.

"Put me down Hao…I am getting anxious." She said with a growl again, well she was really getting hot from just holding onto him, now as hot as she was in her stomach; she could hardly wait to change her clothing into that newest teddy that she grabbed from the store, she had actually become quite attached to the negliche collection that she had growing; she was fond of having Haomaru wearing them and of course without them; it was more than good enough for her.

(--Sexual Content ahead--, skip to next set of Parenthesis to avoid)

"Lie out, let me look at you." Aisha smirked at him, giving her usual demand, as she was still very much cherishing what she had in a mate and obviously that was considering his beauty, the appeal that such a beautiful male could elicit; a flawless body that was only marked by her claws and her fangs; someone to curl up close against when she was sleepy.

Haomaru could do little more than blush, as per usual he was being sized up like a tasty meal by his mate; he was shy in that aspect, to have someone to look over his body with nothing but adoration and love. But he also felt her lusts, obviously she was cranky without having a regular piece of her mate every night; as it sounded more or less that she had a healthy libido.

She grabbed the obi holding his yukuta together and tossed it to the side of them, leaning her face down against his stomach, drawing her tongue out along his skin; tracing her fingers along his defined pectoral muscles, tracing a claw along the flawless skin, he took care of himself and she adored that.

"I think its sexy when you have a loincloth, you know that…hmm?" she grinned and straddled his waist, letting her claws trace along his stomach slowly, how could she do anything short of showing her passion for him, such a sexy male was rare.

He just blushed a little deeper and let his tail rest along his back, looking up at her and blushing again; with a little more color in his cheeks as he felt her hips grinding into his nice and slowly, such momentum was only going to grow. He knew Aisha and of her appetites she would have her mate's attention for the next few hours, maybe being creative with her lover if she decided to.

However he would be surprised to find that she rose from her mount and went to her closet, her special negliche closet, as it became more she was showing off more feeling than anything else; showing her growing love for dressing up. It seemed that Aisha herself might've gained a few fetishes from his cousin, dressing before the fooling around proceeded; it was really a quirk that she adopted and had become a small part of her even.

She emerged from the closet and was wearing a silken teddy, a soft baby blue tone teddy whose transparent form rested comfortably over her body, lining her curves and showing off her beautifully figured body; her tail swishing lightly behind her as she revealed the frilly underwear by raising the end of the teddy to show her mate. More like a form of teasing, she was trying something new today and was obviously swaying and trying to allure him with her very look alone; to make him flush and bring her a result that she was hoping for.

"Ah..." a soft breath did escape Haomaru, he was looking at her in some shock and just considered her entire appearance, she was working so hard for something that he clearly seemed to understand what she was trying to do to him; to be sexy just for him and make him realize how much he needed her.

And to his shock, he found her suddenly smiling, was he doing something to show his need? He hadn't realized it yet if so, he seemed to be as clueless as the next person would be to the subject; he found himself blushing deeply and once more, not knowing the reason or which he was doing this.

"That's what I wanted…good." She said as she stepped before him, placing her hands on her hips and just pressing the tip of her foot to the end of his perked up loincloth; grinning a bit toothily as she used her toes to caress the end of his member.

"Uhhn…" a grunt coming from Haomaru, now clearly told him just what she was talking about and just what he was showing to her that gave her such satisfaction, unknown to him was a hard-on that had come from just watching her come towards him.

"Nya, so my mate isn't as monk-like as he once thought hmm?" Aisha drew her foot back and used it to nudge his loincloth backwards, so that the flap was splayed off to the side; creating kind of a sexy and helpless look for her mate, whose seemed to be watching her every action.

He seemed to be almost too vulnerable there, she could taste his curiosity and yet his shyness about the whole situation and it made her want to devour him right there; just like a predator did to prey like him.

"Damn you Hao, you are so sexy." She said one last thing before pouncing him and laying her body impacting his with a little thud on their bed, she wasted no time in straddling him once more and raising her hips and shifting her frilly panties to the side before she lowered her waist down and used her tail to hold his cathood steady while she dropped herself onto his member quickly.

Instantly a soft mewl of one very pleased Aisha came as she hilted on her love and let her claws scritch at his chest, bringing her face to rest in the side of his neck while she adjusted her hips against his form, rocking slightly on him and drawing her body against his form; back and forth she slid herself to adjust at the base of her mounted mate comfortably.

The squirming was enough to make Hao shift and whimper to her, a soft kind of mewl/sound that sounded out to her as a whimper and made her grind a little harder. He knew that he loved this, he enjoyed everything; being her mate seemed to be the best thing to ever happen for him. He knew that he was very submissive when it came to loving, but he had a few moments of being a dominant figure. This came into play especially when Aisha was requesting/demanding it of him, there were times when she told him to take what he wanted; she had teased him into such things before very effectively and obviously, this was going to be another very one of those days for her.

"Yes…" she said as she let her claws dig into his shoulders and started to ground her hips into his now, still slowly and not yet pulling him from her love tunnel; she was still resting at the hilt, squeezing him and grinding on his base hard while her tunnel gripped him and she took the fine pleasure from their embrace.

His breath was caught in his throat as he felt her resting against him; as if the time had come to stop while she tortured him like this, he finally felt her raising her hips before descending once more in a nice brilliant resounding slap. Again catching his breath in his throat while he curled his tail around her own, his eyes only half opening as he felt her claw tips running down his chest; was this only 50 of her strength? He was almost inclined to push her and find out if she could tap into more; it did seem that Haomaru tended to change his tune when thinking about it.

As Aisha fell into a wonderful rhythm of rising and dropping her hips onto her mate's own, she felt his hands gripping at her waist; squeezing her thighs which was often unusual for her mate, most times she kept him so pleased he writhed instead of grabbing at her. Though it made her smile and she squeezed him harder, like a vice while grinding her hips down on him once more and gyrating violently at his base while taking hold of his shoulders.

Haomaru even surprised himself, for his small little moments of drawing out more in his mate had reacted in a heavy dramatic increase of her actions on him; his breath was once more caught in his throat and seemed to be half brought forth by another mewl. Her strength alone was just too much to keep him from feeling anything more than a sweet kind of need for his embrace of her. What she was doing to him seemed to be quite intense, but was only hungered for more; whenever Aisha claimed him in this way he grew more savage; more wild and in tune with her.

"You finally feel it don't you..?" She managed while she continued to ride him, her actions nothing sort of powerful and dominating in its own right; but seemed to have the right effect on her still, as another few beads of sweat formed on her body, she continued to work him for all he was worth.

Of course before her mate could answer, she'd already claimed his lips in a hungry kiss and laid back down with him while her hips worked; claiming that pleasure that she needed to breathe, what was a part of being life partners with someone, was a joy she was coming to love and a thing she never wanted to let go.

(--End Sexual Content--)

While the two Ctarls made love, it was all the more clear that Hilda was trying to figure things out for herself; it became clear to her every time she thought about it that something wasn't right about her return, about this Lord Hazanko who returned from the grave shortly after she did.

"This isn't right, I don't know what about it…but I don't like it one little bit." She seemed to trust her gut on this; indeed this was wrong; as bad as it was that she suddenly found her daughter after her return, someone she never expected to see her in her lifetime again after leaving her daughter with her father.

"She's mine and that's what's important." Hilda reminded herself of her sweet little daughter; born of a sick operation performed by the pirates.

Her daughter, born as '_Project Elise_' as the Kei Pirates called her, was now just Elise and living her life free of that experiment to create some kind of power house, born of the physical strength of the Ctarls and the chosen 'cell' whose potential with Senjutsu knew little bounds, it was something that was being considered by Gwen Khan to be; scientifically improbable if they somehow managed to create the baby in one try.

She stopped thinking about it, the fact that those men had done any such thing was in that same way unthinkable and unforgivable, she was at first disgusted with the very thought of Elise; the fact those men forcibly took something from her and forced her to be a mother.

Had she lost her freedom or would she merely abandon the child? Hilda had already worked out her escape, and was just ready to go until she saw Elise's face light up; when she saw her little girl at the age of 11, the innocent little child that wanted nothing more than to love her mother…that broke her heart.

"Elise…" she spoke her name softly and sighed, she had treated her daughter with little care at first; little more than something to be used by her and then…then she met the Ctarl Ctarl father, in all of his pride he had come to take the child from Hilda.

She thought him such a fool and when she had the proud warrior at his point of death, Elise spoke of him with such tenderness.

_'Did you and Daddy have a fight? He's all beat up, what happened Mommy?' _the innocence then proved Hilda in her view wrong of the young girl, what could be wrong with her way of seeing things? Why was she so blind to see that her daughter was in fact just that, a daughter to be cared for.

A voice awakened Hilda from her less than subtle sleep, she reached for her gun instinctually; then felt the soft nuzzle against her shoulder and a soft body resting against her side. She relaxed, knowing who it was.

"Couldn't sleep Elise?" her voice coming in a whisper as she felt her daughter adjusting against her.

"No mom, I couldn't sleep and I hope you don't mind." Her daughter said softly, hoping that her mother would allow the intrusion.

"Let's get some sleep." Hilda said in a soft voice, wrapping an arm around her estranged daughter; what a thing to come to understand…that being a mother wasn't so bad at certain times, even when it was dropped in your lap by a hated enemy.

There would be peace for them now, she hoped that her little girl would get to know a peace finally; aboard a ship of misfits.

(End chapter)

I hoped to surprise you here, and don't worry; all of this stuff about Hilda being a mother, obviously was an experiment and now she kind of is a mom and died being one to her little girl; who up until now lived with her father. I will come to explain more in a flashback next Chapter.

Well to all those who like this tale, it's about to get a whole lot more exciting; with a new face that will turn some heads.

Until the next time, adieu.

-Quentix


	18. Chapter: A Daughter meets Young Blade

A/N: Well the next chapter, the saga of Haomaru and Aisha's travels with the XGP now pick up, with new star 'Hot-Ice' Hilda leading the charge here. I imagine that I caught you all off guard with my introduction of a daughter along with Hilda's return, the child was created by the Kei Pirates; with permission of Lord Hazanko, they created her child from her egg and a male Ctarl Ctarl's sperm; Elise is capable of using Senjutsu or Tao magic as it's called. While still holding her mother's greater abilities at piloting many ships and use of weapons, she is the culmination of the great labors undertaken by the Pirates.

Her purpose will become clearer for all readers as things go on, she will play a key role in the future against the Kei Pirates; as will her mother. Well on with the story, you'll see what happens as it goes on.

(End A/N)

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Chapter 18: A Daughter meets the Young Blade of Resolve

As the regular crew functions had gone on, it seemed that life was just going to move on smoothly. Even with Hilda's occasional question while she got used to her station, she spent more time catching up with Gene and Melfina, she had a lot of questions about the Leyline that came up as the time went on. Gene was happy to answer these questions and in fact just asked her questions about her health; what happened exactly with the pirates and what was it like existing on a new ship but knowing how to use it?

"To be exact Starwind, it's a little unnerving that I know how to use the Horus II, as you've noticed…it's not a normal ship, with phase armor and resistance coils which let it repel lasers and to a degree deter homing missiles from its hull. It responds only to my voice or to my daughter's actions." She said as she sipped the cup of coffee, looking Starwind in the eyes afterwards.

She wasn't really sure why she was staring so hard in that moment or even if she was trying to gaze into his very mind through his eyes, it was something that had her questioning the moment as things went on. But she shook her head and broke the gaze, quickly apologizing for the stare; it was rare for her to do so perhaps, but even now she knew that she was acting strangely.

"No need to apologize Hilda, you've been through a lot and you're only just getting used to being safe." His words were confident that she would be safe, he was glad that she'd recognized some growth in him over the years that had passed.

Though she still said it to his face 'Starwind, you're still a cadet in space; just one whose brass has grown with experience, but to me you'll always be that adorable Greenhorn I met those years ago'. And of course it took him down a few notches when she said it, much to her amusement.

"Starwind, we may be safe for right now; but safe…that won't get the answers that I need you understand? We're going to have to right back into dangerous territory to find these out, like this assassin that you and your crew engaged. I was rescued only by my daughter's selflessness, it breaks my heart that she feels she has to protect me so much." She trailed off, since this was one thing that bothered her to a degree.

Of course it was that she hated feeling either helpless or weak in some range, but since her body hadn't been fully responsive then; she felt it might be okay to accept that. She wasn't going to slip up again and _she_ was going to be the one protecting her daughter, Elise when the time came.

"Can you tell us her name now?" the question came from a curious Jim, who had every right in his own mind to know; obviously she'd been protective about it at first. But now he felt that it was time that she could disclose it since they were safely aboard the XGP.

"No, Jim you can ask her that yourself; I am going to allow all of you to interact with her, just understand that she is still rather aggressive. She is fierce when it comes to me as a subject and that means not to test her Starwind. Until she gets used to you and your actions, she may take any teasing about me serious and decide to attack you." Hilda warned, knowing that Starwind could be very hard headed about things.

"What're you looking at me for? I'm not gonna botch any of this up." Gene said as he slipped his arms behind his head and let them rest there.

Hilda shook her head and grinned at him widely all of a sudden, smirking at the way that he still non-chalantly tried to brush it off.

"And that's what makes you a kind of a clown Starwind, the way that you so shameless dare to say that you aren't a big buffoon a lot of the time. When you clearly know that you like to test people and I know that my daughter won't be any different for you. And like I said, she has claws so don't test her." she said with a little grin there.

Though the next moment her face won't totally serious, in one smooth melting motion that showed she wasn't kidding about what she was going to say.

"No drawing a blaster on her, they drive her crazy...she'll really try to kill you. If I find her like that, I won't sympathize with you Starwind; so don't screw with me on this you got it? She dreadfully fears them and will react with 150 percent of aggression." Hilda was dead serious on this matter.

He was first going to give her lip about why she'd even think he'd draw on her, but he stopped and then sighed lightly and gave her a thumbs up sign.

"Alright, I won't draw on her for any such reason; so if she tries to rip my throat out, then what?" he said as he looked at her, obviously not expecting her to do so at all.

"Well Starwind, call for me or get Aisha or that other fella, what's his name…Haomaru? To stop her, presence of her people will calm her as well as anything." She said while turning from Starwind and heading down the hall.

"Where are you going Hilda?" he said as he watched her go.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" her words as sly as ever, as with all of the business having to do with Starwind and explaining things was dealt with; she decided to go on and relax in the shower. It had been a while since she'd been free to enjoy even life's simplest luxuries.

---In the Dining Area---

Eating in the ship's Dining area was now more than common for Haomaru, about half of the time Aisha would either cut out on work or just find her way there to of course stay near him.

Though today he had smelled the scent of the ship's newest visitor, he wondered what it was about the strange feline girl; obviously she was half human and he knew that without guessing too hard; since Hilda's announcement of it. But what he found so curious was that she was a constant visitor to many of his workplaces and or spots he'd been in.

"Umm…Hi there!" her voice was soft but still excited, she seemed to be a little flushed within the tone of her cheeks while she approached him, her tail swished behind her slowly.

"Hello to you, I apologize for not knowing your name; but allow me to introduce myself, I am Haomaru of the Shoreline Blade." He gave her his name and title as a swordsman.

She was quiet a moment, well what was she so nervous about? He was drop dead gorgeous for one…she knew better than to try and pursue anything, his scent was well entwined with the female Ctarl Ctarl on the ship; still that didn't meant she couldn't get to know him right? Maybe learn from him and the sword style he had.

"Um…that's okay, my mother didn't want to tell much about me before, my name is Elise!" she blurted out while she set her tray of food down on the table across from him.

She looked at him as if asking with her eyes if she could sit there.

"Please, feel free to sit here; company is much appreciated at this kind of time, eating alone doesn't do one much good." Hao gave an inviting smile to her and then let his fingers return to his chop sticks, his choice of food? A stranger kind of kelp that was found in the base of the oceans of his home planet, while it was never specified where it really came from; all that was known about his powers, it was indeed said that the aquatic plant helped the swordsmanship reach its supernatural edge.

"Thank you, H-Haomaru-san." She blushed and had settled down to eat her food, while she looked at the food; she was trying to keep her heart from racing. Why so nervous was the major question.

But the answer was simple, not only was he the first male that she'd come across that her mother had tugged her away from; but he was also of her species, he was a humble Ctarl and that was something that caught her off guard beyond all else it seemed.

Without much warning, Haomaru was pounced over in his seat and taken down by his mate, who put him on his back on the nearby floor; well she came down on him like a swift predator descending from the treetops.

"I got you Hao!" Aisha's mad laughter broke the silence in the Dining hall; she rested on his stomach and gave him a fanged smirk, noticing that he was looking at her in total surprise.

"I'll agree with you there, you have caught me off guard, I didn't even feel your presence." He said admittingly, well it was enough to feed her ego some more; he seemed to know that subconsciously.

"Looks like your losing your edge my love, Nya!" she nibbled on his collar bone and seemed to ignore the fact they had another in the room.

But Hao quickly put this to an end, he knew that she needed the area to herself of course, well that would mean that he could let her have her way with him later and that would make up for this.

"We have a guest Aisha, I am not sure you met her as I had before." He said as he gestured to her.

"This is Elise, the daughter of Hilda; our lunch guest." He said as he rose and carried Aisha (with her legs around his waist, she still didn't care for their guest.) and sat down on the side of the bench where he had been before. Well he acted as if nothing was strange about Aisha being attached to his side; well she was looking intently at their guest.

For the moment Elise felt really pressured by her gaze, that was at least until Aisha's gaze lightened, the moment that she felt the tension between them lower did she release a soft breath of relief.

"You're not that bad, you know? I think I like your attitude Elise." Aisha said with a soft grin that was on her face, no doubt that she was finding it to be amusing to be only half over of course, there was no doubt that Aisha was indeed enjoying the younger girl's company.

While that was so suddenly strange for Aisha to take to the younger half breed so quickly right? Of course it became clear, that it was Aisha learning a thing or two from her mate; having spent so much time with him and now going as far as having a child with her mate; this all made it obviously very special to her, she would help the younger female understand herself.

"Don't worry, we can do this just the right way; I'll help you come to understand who you are and what wonders that you haven't even begun to understand await you, experiencing the time of taking a mate." Aisha was grinning as she said it, since she believed it obviously.

It was the one thing that had her loving it, loving the union and her mate for all that he was; she imagined that even this young female could find someone to be with, in no time.

--On the Bridge--

Gene was sitting back in the chair and just relaxing as he often did before anything major came up, slouching back and drinking some odd form of soda he'd picked up on their last stop; though the vicinity alarm went off and made him jump.

"Ah! Damned alarm! Gilliam, what the hell did I say about having that alarm so loud?" he said as he glared at the floating robot's face.

"I'm sorry Gene, but Jim turned the alarm back up since it got the ship damaged the last time it had been so quiet; we were attacked when everyone was asleep that time-" he was cut short by Gene's raised hand.

"Yeah whatever, that's good…just get me a rag and shut it off." He said while rolling his eyes.

Jim had of course already scanned the incoming craft and seemed to be relieved with this news, well it was just a cargo transport of some kind; it seemed to be here to deliver supplies from Fred Luo, a constant employer of Gene and his crew.

"It's just Fred's delivery and a message that is directed to you on the comm. Channel, Gene you should get it; while I go set up temporary docking mode in the hangar." Jim was up and already gone shortly after he'd said that, not leaving Gene to say anything else.

Gene muttered something about 'why him' and 'what does Fred want now?', it was no true form of resentment, instead it was just the usual that came out of Gene whenever it was from Fred; it was always some kind of surprise that caught him off guard mostly.

*Comm. Message*

"Gene! Long time no see! Anyways, since you still owe me for the repairs and free supplying; I thought of a way that we could make that even Steven. And that is a very simple thing, you've got a new Ctarl Ctarl hybrid coming on board and you're to take him on as a crew member for a few months." The voice had already been stopped by Gene.

"Oh come on! Not another one!!" he had only just met up with Aisha and she came with her little boyfriend, then Hilda came with her daughter and now this? What was he suddenly a Ctarl Ctarl Magnet?

"No Bellyaching either, Mr. Gene Starwind. All you have to do is put him to work on board, I've arranged for him to have his expenses paid; fully so you don't worry about that. All you need to do is make use of his services; he's a very unique Ctarl that I found traveling. I thought you might need some extra might and so you're stuck with him now. Make good use of him okay? He's got the most amazing sword skill I've ever seen." Once more Gene's comment slipped in between pauses.

"And now I've got two…bah." He said as he rolled his eyes, it wasn't as if that wasn't enough to have someone to count on; but he wondered how this was going to work out now, wasn't there going to be a territory problem?

--In the Hangar--

Jim had already taken the supplies on board and signed for them while he was looking at their new guest, and what Fred's message had been down here was just for Jim, advising him to take the new Ctarl to a room and introduce him to the areas around the ship; it was a way to pay off the debt owed.

Jim really didn't mind, he just thought it was rather sudden that now they were taking on yet another member to the crew; another person to have as company that no doubt he was going to marvel at.

"So, can I ask your name? I'm Jim Hawking, the expert with computers here." He introduced himself and held his hand out to the apparent teenage Ctarl, he was guessing by his height.

"The Honor is mine to meet you, I am Y'tue QlanQlan or better known as 'The Leaping Forest Tiger'; I am proud to be a part of the famed crew of the famous crew of the XGP, tales of you and your crew's exploits are known throughout the galaxy." He said this of course since it was the truth as far as he was concerned.

Jim did have to say that he had less modesty than Haomaru did at least by appearance, Y'tue appeared to be in a forest tunic of sorts and that wasn't what was so bad; the loincloth with the large emblem on his belt was indeed what made him stand out and appear almost like some native.

"I can see that my appearance has caught your eye, try not to be surprised my friend; it is merely the common dress of those on my world, I choose to represent us beyond the planet's bounds." Y'tue said more as a fact so that Jim might not be so confused by it.

Jim gave a nod to that, at least he could understand if it was cultural or something that was done by tradition. So with that Jim took right on a ship-wide tour; since the XGP got overhauled and compartments added, there was a lot more to show than before. Though it was clearly something that Jim was happy to do for their new guest/crew member; it was still a chore to get around the ship from time to time.

"And here is your room; it is right across from our other three Ctarl guests." Jim ushered him into the room, surprisingly he found the Ctarl strength always impressive, but of course he just moved to the side and let Y'tue set his things down, though he seemed to be waiting for Jim to take him somewhere.

"Oh Jim, if you don't mind I would like to meet the other Ctarls that are here; if you don't mind I would prefer to know them before I settle in is all." He made his intentions clear before anything else went down; he didn't want to just settle in; the scents he smelled had overlapped, but he clear to tell there were two females and one male staying here already.

Jim gave him a nod and gestured for him to follow after him.

"This way Y'tue." He said as he started towards the Dining area, that was the place that the Ctarls spent most of their time; for Aisha it was a habit for enjoying to eat so much and of course, Haomaru stayed there because Aisha often kept him there. He wasn't sure about Hilda's daughter being present, but it was worth a shot at least.

--At the Dining area--

Aisha had been sitting by Elise, a few benches away from Haomaru and there she was disclosing to her some of the details of what it was like to have a mate and the wonders of the union. She wasn't telling her anything about mating, since that was something that Aisha was confiding that instinct would show her when she went to claim her own mate.

"So Elise, what is most promising of all is the knowledge that your mate will cherish you forever; the male that you will seek out will be true to heart…true to your heart. I knew at first sight…though it took me a while to recognize the qualities of him that were sweet and made me want to seek him out further; he was a beautiful male when I first saw him in action. He can be annoying, but…I love and adore him." She said while looking over to Haomaru, who she found was cutely lapping at his milk.

Of course the moment was suddenly broken into by the coming of the newbie amongst the crew; even Hao stopped his dinner to look up at the new Ctarl that was in the doorway, he sensed a powerful presence and knew instantly that this Ctarl was the source.

"It can't be…" Haomaru had heard bad news much earlier on during his travels, this couldn't be the same boy that he trained so many years ago; while an assistant master that long ago, Haomaru had since gone back under his father's tutelage once he was humbled by the grandmaster of another school; he realized that he was no master at that point.

That was several years ago and he heard that his only ever student, had suffered a bad accident and had passed away or faded into obscurity, one or the other…both were the equivalent of death to a swordsman; especially one of the Ctarl blood.

"Teacher Haomaru!" he sprang excited into the air, well the look on his face was one of joy; though he quickly calmed himself and walked over to his side before he bowed his head deeply and looked at his old master.

"Please, my old student; I am no master, I am merely a swordsman." He smiled lightly and shook his head; the greeting was accepted kindly but dismissed lightly.

"Oh but you were a master when you taught me, what happened?" Y'tue got straight to the question, to find out what had his master saying such a thing; he was a little stunned.

"First things first, Y'tue I am proud to see you still alive and well as a swordsman, though I can tell by your demeanor you have developed one of your own; I may test you later during our tenure together." Hao heard a little annoyed-sounding throat clearing being done; two guesses as to who it was.

First he laughed and then he stood up from his seat.

"You are to meet our fellow Ctarl before we talk more Y'tue, first is my mate and close friend; Aisha ClanClan." He said as he walked to her side and took her hand.

"Damn right, I'm glad you picked up on it Hao; I was afraid I'd have to discipline you." She said it with a wry grin, of course it was hinting at something naughty; which went right over his student's head.

"Discipline Master Hao? I'd find that hard to believe, his skill with a sword is amazing; he can defeat anyone." Y'tue of course was just sounding like the eager student who believed in his master; despite the passing of years.

Aisha grinned wider and pressed into Hao's side, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Oh I know, he could slay many…but he's not pointing that anywhere else but me." She said with a grin, it seemed Elise and Hao were the only ones picking up on it.

Elise was blushing heavily and Hao gave a nervous chuckle; since his mate was being so blunt about it; though he decided to stop his student's next return comment to that.

"And this my young friend, is Elise who is a half Human /half Ctarl that we've recently met." He took Aisha aside and took her into his arms; so she wouldn't try to interfere with the greeting of the two.

There was silence cast between them when their gazes met, Y'tue's focus was cast upon her and he was blushing as he stepped forward to meet her, he knelt before her and took her hand; gently nuzzling it.

"I am Y'tue QlanQlan of the Forest Blade style…I am deeply honored to meet you Elise." He watched her blush as he licked her hand, well the equal of a kiss no doubt.

Elise turned all shades of red when she looked at him, she was trying to steady herself…she'd never felt such sensations before; but she finally cleared her throat and managed a greeting to give to him.

"I-I'm Elise, it's good to meet you Y'tue." She said it softly, finally managing to get it out; though she found her heart racing as their eyes locked once more.

The silence was broken of course by the sound of footsteps and a rather rude entry, by none other than Elise's mother; Hilda.

"So, you're the new kid on the ship eh? Well it's nice to see your friendly; just watch how friendly you are with my daughter, here me?" Hilda's eye focused on him, no doubt that she was already wary of her daughter's reaction to this boy.

They'd only just met and now they were making these eyes of 'you're the one!', that wouldn't be happening if she had anything to say about it; her daughter may have been old enough in Ctarl years to make decisions alone, she'd be damned if that was going to stop her from intervening as much as she could with it.

"I...I apologize ma'am, I do not wish to intrude upon your daughter's personal space; I was taken aback…is all, I have never seen…such a pretty girl." His words were honest, he meant them clearly; everything he was as a swordsman up to this point made up his character and much like Haomaru, he couldn't lie.

Hilda wanted to be mad at the kid's comment, she didn't like that her daughter was so quickly swooning over this young boy; they were about the same age she was guessing by his youthful appearance, that was what made this more the problem for her of course, it was prime that her daughter might try things…like a silly young human girl would.

"Don't sweat it kid, I'm not gonna hurt you…just watch it." She said as she took Elise to sit down; well she was going to give her daughter some words to the wise, what else right? She wasn't dumb…she knew her daughter was already thinking of this boy and her hormones were going crazy.

What's worse in her mind is that Hilda knew that it wouldn't be this Y'tue's fault if anything happened, likely…it would be her daughter's doing, and why the hell not? Hilda knew she acted on her impulses…but as a mother she had to try and slow such a pace down. She only hoped that she might be successful doing so, if not…woe be unto the both of them if she ever caught them fooling around. There would be a hell to pay since Hilda; even to her daughter in such a case wasn't going to be standing for that.

(End Chapter)

Well, I hoped this chapter was an eye popper, suddenly there's a new Ctarl on board while Hilda and Elise are just setting in. First Elise is making goggly eyes at Haomaru due to his beauty and suddenly this new Ctarl and her notice each other.

I know it may seem kind of fast, but that's the point right now! I intend to show some drama and new romance here; while I'm not finished with Aisha and Haomaru obviously, this just means that you'll have more to watch out for.

I hope to thrill you with the next chapter, stay tuned!

Till then Adieu

-Quentix


	19. Chapter: Elise's Dilemma, Rage of Ctarl

A/N: Well things shall be getting more interesting as they pick up, now it will be up to Hilda to describe what's going on in her mind, as she watches her daughter's progression with a strange boy she doesn't yet trust. But don't worry, I won't be overdoing it; this will be careful and not moving half as fast as it seems. They do notice each other, there is a truth going on between them that is unknown, a nice connection is the thing heh. I won't say what since that will ruin the surprise ahead.

(End A/N)

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Chapter 19: Elise's Dilemma, Rage of the Ctarl blood Part I

Elise had taken a lot more notice of the boy, she was fawning over him idly whenever they were eating lunch together, it had been a fun time that she had with his company, often idly just chatting about smaller things and about how life on board the XGP had been good for them thus far. She enjoyed her time with her peer and despite the fact she wasn't to say any of her hardships were nothing that she was used to facing off with, she found that he was not only very happy with the company of those on the ship; but admitted to her that working with her was also something of his enjoyment.

He couldn't help but feel that he was fortunate in that regard, since her mother had warned him on many occasion about getting close to her, they were still fast friends and to his delight had been well off partners working together as, they never had any real issues when working with one another. That was something that he noticed Hilda seemed to approve of, that fact alone that she didn't have to tell him to back off.

"So Elise, what's next on your duty list? I am fortunate enough to be stuck with engine detail." He meant fortunate in the rite of training; he often requested some of the harder work that would certainly be worth a Ctarl Ctarl's attention, he seemed excited.

Elise in her own right was excited, though she rarely got any seriously difficult work, she couldn't help but appreciate the toughness of the occasional engine assignment she got, since it was something agreed on by Hilda that would pan out; she didn't want her daughter getting soft from no strenuous work.

"Mom occasionally lets me do some serious work so that I can satisfy my Ctarl pride." Elise admitted to having some, even while she was soft spoken, still she was fierce in battle had a means of showing her might whenever challenged, it was something that was slightly important to her.

Though safety first above all else, she didn't have any major problem with the whole thing, but of course this did mean that she was finding herself needing to end battles, but to seek them out so she could end them. Physical prowess was really starting to become something that she needed to impress against someone; a foe perhaps? Or someone worthy of sparring her, it was times like this when her Ctarl Ctarl blood began to boil.

It was enough to say that she was a Ctarl Ctarl by her actions when she wished to be, but it had come a long way since she met Y'tue. She never felt satisfied as far as it was for her need to explore it; her mother was protective and that was fine, she still wished to bring it all out, in the end she wanted to see how he was in reaction to her. Yes how this boy reacted to her, someone of such a rigorous training, she was curious about what he would do when she challenged him and refused to hold back merely because her mother wished to. It hadn't been yet more than a week and a half since she was onboard the XGP, and now she was going to break the peace with some much needed action.

--In the Hall--

Elise stood in the hall's center, knowing that Y'tue was on the way right now and that she was going to declare her ultimatum now, she would have battle from him; serious battle or she would do something that would simply make him rue the moment he gave some momentary reason to say no. She was in no mood for any jesting today, she'd have combat and finally stretch out her combat skills; they had grown so stale due to the moments of peace they were having, suddenly it was too much for her. A big difference from her embracing it when she first arrived, but that point was moot.

Like she had been thinking, just like clockwork he emerged from the darkened supply room with a box on his shoulder, aimlessly wrapped up in the set work schedule that he had been assigned for the day, this was what people called a 'daily grind' and was fine for him, since it regularly varied from day to day, but it seemed there was just that much more maintainance going on these days rather than nothing at all.

"Hey Elise, what's on your mind?" his question came lightly on the moment of course, he was curious as to what brought her to his side now; so why not just ask?

Though her posture changed and the look in her eyes grew from amused to serious, that question seemed to annoy her.

"What is it?" he watched her eyebrow twitch in annoyance before she simply started towards him, her fist curled into a solid set of knuckles; there was no doubt that she was intending to go and smash that look off of his face, as her anger suddenly got the better of her; this was nothing that she knew originally as a thought..her heart was active and beating with the pace of a drum, she was excited and intended to go as far as she could to show this off; her fist grew heavy as she looked at him.

Before he knew what was going on, he reacted without thought, catching the fist and tossing her off to the side with a unique grace, though he knew it wasn't over by a long shot; for the moment he had turned he found her resting on one knee, she landed and was already launching herself at him again.

A brutish tackle that lacked any grace, Elise snarled and slammed her head into Y'tue's chin and broguht her fist back again, the Ctarl's rage was working...she had this indescribable urge to smash this nice boy, to get him to fight back was the main goal: though she was only vaguely aware of it, as of the moment she had satisfaction from hitting him and even more from the fact she was forcing this upon him, he'd shyly backed out of spars...well she'd have none of that right now, she'd beat it out of him if she had to.

Y'tue knew better than to talk, he grabbed her shoulders and tossed her straight up, using his greater arm strength to reverse the situation, or so he'd hoped. Though as she was tossed up, her feet wrapped around his head and with an unnatural balance she curled her body backwards and landed on her hands, before tossing him towards the wall off to their left, before pushing herself back up; her nails had grown into claws and now a fresh set of ears rested upon her head, a long tail swishing behind her as she grinned a set of fangs.

"Finally...finally it's time to play Y'tue, no more dodging and no more excuses. We're gonna fight if I have to break this ship to get you to react." her voice had taken one of total fierceness and a kind of strange laugh that was sounding from her, just what was she going through right now? It was really hard to say in truth, all that she knew is that she wanted to fight and now this was perfect...yes her tail twitched in anticipation, she wanted him to use that sword and fight her seriously or she'd rip him to pieces.

Y'tue was on his feet and just stunned by all the action, in this corridor he'd have very little use for his acrobatic style, he sighed slowly knowing what this was; they were near a full moon: his instinct was already active and his eyes narrowed on her as his eyes took on a jade appearance from the soft shade of green that normally occupied his irises.

"So be it, I'm not responsible for this damned ship anyway!" he abandoned all forms of control and jumped on her violently, laughing maniacally as he bit into her shoulder and raked his claws down her shoulders once he got a hold of them.

The two Ctarl hybrids were acting on instinct now, it was nothing but savage Ctarls entangling from the moment they met in midair the next moment; style...skill....none of this meant anything here. It had no place when Ctarls were showing their rage during the full moon, now it was simply a matter of who was more dominant...even strength came down to the center point of what would happen.

Elise was finally sating her boiling blood, her mother always said to exercise control and restraint, don't act on her instinct...but why? This felt so good! To feel her fangs sink into Y'tue's neck once she had him down and to taste his blood, yes that felt so much better...she felt alive for the first time in her life, emersed in the feelings of a full on rage. This was what a boy Ctarl smelled like to...she liked that also, to feel him clawing and biting along her skin, it made her purr while she slashed him across the face and grabbed him by the throat; the struggle felt more and more real to her as it continued. She almost felt like she could stop it at her whim, but why bother when it felt this intense?

Y'tue was stunned by the whole incident, from the moment she had become so aggressive he was thinking of a way to diffuse the situation...until he felt the call of his blood, the burning sensation grew worse and would strike while he slept if he didn't let loose; he knew this from past experience. So what was all of this about? settling that point with another Ctarl, someone who could understand the pull and drive for battle, this outright savage bout was settling one set of urges that demanded attention, but he knew all too well what else it was doing and that he would have to refuse.

_'Not a chance, I know well Hot-Ice Hilda would do well to keep her promise; forget it!'_ as if this ultimatum given to his urges would matter? He was talking, no telling himself it wasn't happening as if it made all the difference when stuck in the situation that he was right now. Though the major thing now was to win this fight, he would end this before it became a problem; he was certain that his experience would serve him. He might not be using a sword, but he damn well knew that a set of claws could function like swords with more control; the natural set of swords.

Unfortunately for him, no amount of experience would let him deal with the raging hormones of a young Ctarl female who found someone she found ideal as a gentleman who could also meet her needs as a Ctarl; the matter was just too perfect in her mind and her body now, so the matter was simple and the path fated to happen in Elise's mind, her mother could go right to hell if she would be upset later, this was perfect for her.

-- Some minutes later--

The fight hadn't come any closer to ending and in that fact, Elise had forced him into one of the storage rooms and had locked the door with her tail tapping the grid on the doorframe, it seemed most assured that she had her plans; another fangy grin told him that all they'd done up to this point was fun; but those narrowing eyes of hers became seductive as she licked the blood off of her claws.

"Your blood tastes sweet, you fight like a real Ctarl should, and I'm sure you know what's on my mind; so lay down or get hurt...fight if you want as it will only be more fun." those were her only words before she started approaching him, this was going to be going in her favor oh yes. She felt that he knew just what was going to happen, her clothing was already torn but that was just fine as they had no place in the actions on her mind.

He blinked and knew exactly what she was getting at, there he lowered his stance and brought his claws up defensively and this was where she knew that he was in control again.

"You know I can't let that happen." he said as he looked to her, though his fangs hadn't retracted he was in full control all the same.

"Fighting is one thing, but you can't make a choice like that without your mother's permission and you know it! Your mom is who you've got remember? You are human as much as you are Ctarl!" he was trying to appeal to her sense as much as it looked.

She laughed with a hint of a purr and a growl on the edge of her voice as she spoke; closing the gap between them slowly while looking at his eyes directly, her eyes slitted more..she almost completely in her place as a dominant Ctarl female right now, that much was sure.

"My mother may be my guardian, but she doesn't tell a mature Ctarl what to do; and neither does a weaker male, so either submit and save yourself lumps...or scratch that: resist all you damn well want, your mine one way or the other!" she said before jumping on him and pinning him by the throat while seating herself on his lap, why bother with talking? Action was far better suited.

The scuffle in the room wouldn't yet be known for a while, there was simply no way to know that hybrid Ctarls reacted this way, as even Haomaru's blood differed from his student Y'tue and Hilda's daughter Elise; the rage had begun and it was simply a matter of finding out how the hard way, and with matters set into motion now all that remained was Elise's declaration to come to fruition once she ended Y'tue's struggle that is.

(End Chapter)

I know its a quick end and a little cheap of me to stop right here, but I want to ask those who do read it: should this be allowed? Should Hilda stop her daughter or do you think this extra bit of drama would be fun? The thing is, don't count Y'tue out yet, he isn't Hao's best student (one of two students) for nothing. Depending upon a sword to solve your problems would have gotten no where....well I humbly await your reaction, please Review.

-Quentix


	20. Chapter: Elise's Dilemma, Part II

A/N: It's been way too long since I was here folks, but I am going to redouble my efforts to give this fic a proper ending and that I promise you it will. So just bear with me here, it has been quite a time trying to find a new place to live and also going back to college and getting back and settled in. The only reasons that I have been struggling for any real ideas for this fic, but now I'm back with a vengeance, let it be seen here in this amazing chapter!

(End A/N)

--

Chapter 20: Elise's Dilemma, Rage of Ctarl Blood Part II

And so Elise was taking what she wanted against Y'tue's wishes right now, she'd already mounted his lap and pressed her heated body against him, raking her claws against his sides and licking the fresh blood along his neck; she was in heaven right now…surrounded by the blood of their battle in this small storage closet, covered in sweat from the vigorous struggle they'd been having up to this point and now she was where she wanted to be; on that same male she'd just forced into submission, resting for a moment before she'd continue her claim on him. He was far too gentle for his own good and she'd quickly solve that.

"Your body has come to life my love, you cannot hide any secrets from me, your body wants me as much as that look in your eyes does." She spoke while looking into those beautiful pools of jade that held an almost fear there.

"And you can see that..? That I cannot hide perhaps, but it makes no difference we can never be, your mother finds us far too young for such a decision. I will adhere to her will, no matter the cost." Y'tue's words annoyed her and she responded simply.

She bit firmly on his throat and broke the skin, where she began to suckle on the sweet metallic blood of his for a moment before licking it over again and tracing her face in that same blood.

"Look at you…following those learned mannerisms, but this is the depth of your teacher's lessons embedded onto you. Impressive but pointless." She said while adjusting her hips so her aroused core was rubbing into the mangled loincloth that once protected his groin, she pressed firmly into him and looked into his eyes deeply; not speaking words but marking him with her strength, her bite, and now speaking volumes of her plans to dominate the both of them with her savage need.

He attempted to move and that was her last warning, the last straw, and indeed the last time he'd ever get in the way of them being apart…she fixed it all in one powerful thrust, once her tail had cleared the cloth from her path, she made her move and shuddered in response to it.

(--Enter sexual content--)

She was too happy with her action and looked into his eyes, though there was some pain, unlike the human's actions which were to wait it out, the pain encouraged her as much as the dull ache inside of her tunnel finally sated by feeling his arousal filling her. There she was already sitting up gently and placed her claws on his shoulders, adjusting her legs so they rested at either side of his legs and licking her lips softly, before she just rocked her body; doing her absolute best to feel him stroking her insides.

It was like nothing that he'd ever felt, Y'tue was trapped in between a gasp and a soft shudder himself, there she gave him no time to get used to the sudden heat encompassing him. And there he just drew his claws to her waist and grabbed her body as she moved, shifting slightly beneath her and finding that this made him moan only more. Such sweet pleasure…he had no idea what he was getting himself into and yet now he was moving with her, it was nothing but the nature of the beast that kept this going the way it was now. There was no kind of control that he had now, his gasps were a testament to that, since she was now moving with some amazing, fluid, and yet powerful instinct driven rhythm.

"O-Ooh! Rrrnngh!" she growled and hissed on top of him while her hips descended onto his body with great power, sudden force of him filling her and her body shifting with the need to have him; she just smiled and licked her lips again as she felt the pleasure run rampant throughout her body and just bring her more of what she was seeking out through her actions.

She found that she was hardly wanting to stop and just driving herself for more of what she was having right now, this wonderful…amazing feeling of this heat spearing into her, she found herself resting at the hilt for a moment and grinding on his heated spire, yes this piece of flesh and muscle that she was now abusing with her tunnel, squeezing him beyond a threshold of pain or pleasure, gripping and grinding on him in order to drive him into pleasure and still hold that essence of pain that she seemed to find she loved was there.

"It feels…so hard inside of me, yes…" it was a rather dirty thing perhaps to be said, but she wasn't feeling that, only a single statement of truth that she kept real through her actions now, that was what she was considering.

As of the following moments her body's inward heat was throbbing with need, just there the wish to have him deeper and moving further against her. She was enjoying him so much now and just trying her best of the moment to really have him feeling the depth of her core around him, gripping him and squeezing around him with greater force that was showing off in great power of her form right now.

"Look at you and your helpless…nnh…y-yes…" she groaned above him and pressed down against his body harder and groped at his chests with her finger claws just raking at his body while she felt his inexperienced hands tracing and rubbing along her skin and she found that she was just greatly enjoying his touch's warmth.

There was just a soft moment of her feelings and there her body relaxing on top of him while she looked into his beautiful jade eyes as she leaned down to kiss him and hold the sweetness of his lips against hers. This just before her body started moving again, it became more obvious in her actions all led to one thing, the satisfied look in her eyes and the moans from her were saying that she was really enjoying this heat enough.

She stopped talking all together and was just pounding her hips away on top of his own, working him hard and pressing him down to the floor and brought both of those clumsy hands to her breasts; where she helped him to cup her mounds and made sure he was getting what she wanted him to do. She helped him to knead her flesh while she continued to work upon him. She was pressing into his body into hers closely, her smile never once fading as she continued rolling and grounding on top of his body.

"Squeeze them damn you..! Nnnggh! Wiggle your hips more!" she hissed at him and moaned louder once he finally started listening to her, she was enjoying the warmth of their bodies together and just had her slipping back down his shaft and kissed him hard, trying to get him as close to her as possible; though she was being careful not to bruise his lips, but she wanted him in her deeper and her walls groped him tightly with her tunnel. It was one of the more lewd things she'd ever done and in her mind she was blushing a little bit, though physically her face was already flush as she pressed and just continued grounding down against his hips.

It was all so amazing to feel her moving so energetically, she was like a machine…he knew that he had liked and wanted to be with Elise before; but now she was slamming her hips against him, while she rocked and pushed her hips against him at an angle as she let his tail squeeze hers and there to the point it was becoming more and more enough as Y'tue tried his best to bear down and take all of this overwhelming combination; it was the passion of the love that she was using to drive her love of him to new heights.

It was quite enough with the pleasure and more of the force, he was trying to consider what drove her to this, suddenly the passion had come up to the greatest level of it and she couldn't yet understand why she was so fiery and it was simple to say, that his master was a perfect example of this: he was with Aisha and she pretty much led the relationship, he found that this might be the same way here.

He was brought back from his mind by feeling her walls suddenly grip him tightly, a vise-like squeeze clamping down around his member…milking his cathood for all it was worth while he say up and ran his fingers along her breasts tightly in a grip, stroking at her nipples while his peak had come suddenly and then this way she was enjoying the feel of him within.

"E-Elisee!" he cried her name out and felt his essence firing into her, just as she decided it was a great time to move, there her body immediately taking off with a powerful grounding pace, as to point her hips grounding and pumping down around the base of his length, he was certainly feeling weak while she just continued this pace.

Y'tue's nearly helpless cries did little more than amuse her as she took these feelings and embraced the wild side of her, certainly she wondered about what her mother's thoughts on this now forced mateship that she took upon herself to make with a somewhat unwilling partner; though the most important thing in her mind remained a fact, she knew that he loved her and felt it in his returned kisses and corresponding thrusts.

She had made no mistake in making this bond more than just a dream and though she felt he had some sorrow for it now being more 'official' with permission from her mother and probably his teacher, she could've cared less right now. She was held back from this…wonderful act? She adored the pleasure that lapped at her spine and helped to guide her actions. However she was brought to rise from her sudden held back thoughts, it was the sudden ferocity of her clambering pleasure as it gathered within her core; she had never felt such a wonderful feeling…though that word fell shy to even come near describing what was racing through her blood like electricity.

"Y-You'd better…r-release in me!" she yowled to him as her tail gripped his tightly and squeezed his rigidly as she curled her body into his tightly, mewling wildly as her first climax was realized, she was now experienced a thrumming haven; as her juices spilled down her tunnel and surrounded his shaft; she felt his shaft's release and it was every bit as worth as seeking her own out, she clutched down on his sides with her thighs and her knees and fell against his chest; her body suddenly as weak as her new mate was.

(--End Sexual Content--)

There was so much that was going to be wrong with this moment but nothing that he was able to even consider as they considered this, it was all quieted by the bliss of the warmth they shared now, and even moreso by the sweet purr of Elise, who licked gently at Y'tue's neck and nestled her face into his skin.

Meanwhile all he could do was just kind of taking things as it were, and embraced her and despite the fact that this connection was made and he had desired it; still it wasn't exactly the way he wanted it to be, there was nothing that could be done about it right now; he was just enjoying the body heat of hers and the strange solitude they were enjoying in the storage closet.

--Meanwhile-

Least to have it said, Hilda was a little curious about the whereabouts of her daughter, she remembered that Elise murmured something about looking to practice her fighting skills and that was part of what brought on her current curiosity. As soon as she spotted Gene, she stopped him and immediately addressed her concerns.

"Alright Gene, a simple question; have you seen my daughter? She disappeared some hours ago looking for someone to spar with and hasn't come back yet. I know she didn't leave the ship since I already checked with Gilliam, but face it your ship is a pleasant little house and I still don't know all the places. So point it out to me." She crossed her arms after saying this, looking at his face with a semi-amused look.

For a moment Gene reminded her of the greenhorn just going into space for his first time in a ship of such sophistication again and hadn't been able to give her an initial answer for the first moment, but she was finally getting what she was looking for from him.

"Yes actually, I did see her about 30 minutes ago and she was busy looking for someone to fight, I offered but she was looking for a C'tarl, so I pointed her in the direction of Haomaru; I think she's with him." He said as he gestured towards the gym where both Hao and Aisha lived in the sideroom and trained often now.

Hilda headed to the gym and found the said C'tarl mates in battle, for a second she watched their grace in battle, as Haomaru used his sword with a skill that would shame most; if any remaining swordsmen in this day and age. She had a bit of respect for him since he tried his best to act and be treated as normal as possible. She had to give Aisha credit for not only finding him, deciding quickly, and claiming him. She also had to give the noisy Aisha credit for being able to train on the same level as her mate; though Hilda imagined that he was making sure that she could follow his sword and deal with it all on the same point.

Haomaru used the moment he spotted Hilda as a reason to take a break for a moment, he slashed past Aisha and then grabbed her waist with his free arm, drawing her back to his chest; by now it was one of those things he learned kept her content and even a little docile while he was embracing her.

"Yes Hilda? I imagine you have come for a reason of some sort." He asked of course while looking at her to give her his attention, his fingers were already cruising over Aisha's sides to keep her calm.

"Mm…" Aisha was leaning back into his touch and only paid Hilda some slight attention, she loved Hao's touch whenever he did this she couldn't help but melt a little bit. "Hi…Hilda…" she said in a very calm tone, utterly taken to her heaven by his touch; he knew just how to touch her it seemed.

"I was wondering if you'd seen my daughter Elise? I was looking for her since she disappeared some hours ago, obviously you two are training; so then the more obvious question I should be asking is have you seen your student Y'tue? I would surmise she's with him and probably not training." She said in a tone that more or less annoyed her.

Hao took a moment to shake his head and then saw that expression, certainly she didn't believe that Y'tue would be the one to pursue such things? Hardly, he trained Y'tue thoroughly to respect authority and of course this meant parents as well. Even if he did care for Elise in a romantic manner he wouldn't break the vow that he took, he knew Y'tue's honor would demand no less of him owning up to his own words.

"Certainly you don't think Y'tue would be seeking the romance? I've raised and trained him quite to the contrary of that. Just through the discipline of our style, I know that honor means more to him in that capacity; he believes it to have karmic retribution, if you might say it would clash against his very core values." Hao explained this and noticed that Hilda wasn't phased by what he said.

She waved off his explanation and looked at him a bit more seriously.

"Let me put it this way as you should know for every bit that he might be reserved on the full moon, Ctarls are less likely to do that; we happen to be passing by a system full of shining moons as I'm sure you lovers have noticed. I'm not worried about your student if his control is what you say; I am however thinking it's too late to stop Elise from acting drastic." She said as she started looking around the gym for signs of him or her having been here.

"Your daughter? She seems well reserved as we-" he found himself cut off.

"Trust me, she is as wild a child as they get, her Ctarl blood makes her every bit as wild as Aisha when she wants to indulge; hell I'm sure that she probably even has a new mate right now, that's how sure of this I am. I know that she got to him, she's no where else and he's not in his room, I was hoping to avoid this…" she was annoyed but had a knowing look on her face, she knew without anything further that her daughter had probably pinned the weak spirited fool down and made him hers.

Without a word Hilda turned and left to find any place that would or would not be suitable for two hormone driven teens.

--Back with Elise and Y'tue—

She was already having more of him once again, she had taken him to the shower in her and her mother's shared quarter's region, just now holding onto him and making out idly while she felt his skilled hands stroking her body clean with the soapy cloth, she was making sure that she was taking him for all she could manage; feeling that ache within her desiring him once more, she did mount him on the floor of the shower and looked down at him.

"Mm-mmph! I-I never said stop wiping me down..did I?" she said with a nice thrilled mewl passing through her lips as she decided to make this a quick session, so as to save the water in the ship's supply, even though he was cleaned and such it took time for that process.

So as she moved her body once more, bringing the both of them such pleasures; there was little else on her mind. Though by the time she was finishing up it was very sure that she was slowly coming back down to earth in her mind. Elise was still loving all that she sampled of these feelings, this was…a mate and they were bonded together through this action. For once Elise felt much the same that she had when she was first freed by her mother. It was a wonderful feeling to revel in, she collapsed on his chest once she reached a shared peak, yes…she never planned to let any session without feeling him join her in release.

In Y'tue's mind he was kind of feeling goofy just deciding the whole outcome was something that he was looking to really understand since he still didn't fully comprehend the whole idea of it. It was wrong but…oh so right at once.

"Elise…your mother, she's going to find out eventually.." he was whispering the first, but not only thought that was in his mind.

"And Y'tue? Is there a reason I should worry or really care? I found you, I possess you; let her speak against it. Whether you might believe this or not, it has always been my desire not to feel truly alone. I love my mother, but she is not like me; she cannot understand the urges to find one other Ctarl and feel them so close. It was not for me to hold off, you were cute when we met…I felt your want to see me; more of me and be with me." She looked him in the eyes after saying that.

"Y-yes…I did, I knew from the start, Elise you were special and…despite it all, being wrong somewhat, I…I still…" he was trying to finish it, but he also annoyed her with it.

"And what's wrong about feeling inner-peace finally? What's wrong about finding your other half? You and your damnable morals kept you away from me! It's why I'm glad the moon was full, I felt alive and confident; not weak and dainty." She said, cursing what she found to be a weakness of his.

"…I am glad it happened, this may not be the way I envisioned it, but it was becoming harder to stay away from you Elise." Y'tue finally said something that she wanted to hear. There she rewarded his words with a beaming smile.

The smile was not all, since she also kissed him with a tenderness that was present, but now more so with her libido temporarily sated. She rubbed his face and purred while she held onto him.

--

"Elise Yasha Hilda, get the hell out here now!" it was a clear that her mother was out here, utterly pissed at her daughter since she found out her location just by tracking her down.

And not too much of a surprise to Hilda did she hear shuffling in the shower, she shook her head and seemed to be just annoyed; she wasn't at all surprised and knew the two of them had gone and become partners without any such permission. For once Hilda hated being right, she couldn't keep her daughter from making anything she saw as a 'mistake' this early, but it didn't mean she wasn't going to get scolded.

After about a few minutes, still no one emerged from the shower and Hilda's patience was wearing thin and now she was going to make one more that wasn't too pretty really, she drew one fist to the door and knocked in a warning manner.

"Elise, either come out or I'm going in, y'know I don't care about seeing you or your little boyfriend naked." she said it bluntly, she could have cared less about the whole matter.

That did it though, because the door opened and Elise's face was flush red, from the shower and of course being caught by her own mother; it made her feeling awkward though she felt no shame about what she did, it was something that she found to be utterly and most certainly a necessary thing.

"Yes mother? May I ask what the problem is?" she asked her in a polite manner, trying to keep any aggressive tones out of her voice, her and her mother had some...issues already and she'd been shot several times with a stun rifle and blasters of her mothers due to outbursts; so facing that fact alone...yeah Elise knew better.

"You screwing this kid when I told you not too is the problem, yeah don't give me that 'full moon' nonsense. You have a stronger will than that, even in the presence of 12 moons, those damn scientists said so. So you've got about 12 seconds before I go on and stun the both of you; I'm plenty mad enough to right now." Hilda said, hand already drawing the stun pistol out right now, gripping it tightly, the look in her good eye was nothing but anger right now.

The one thing that drew her to back down further was that tone, her mother was upset with her...she suddenly became very vulnerable and immediately shrank back down to her age, she was looking at her mother with eyes of a quivering nature. This was something that Hilda seen taken aback by, though it was certainly genuine and now Elise was trying to think...trying to say something.

"M-mom...I-I don't...have a reason." she looked down as her hair covered her face, it became more clear...she was very simply in pain, her mother was living up to her name and it frightened her once more. "I...I needed not to be alone mom, that's all...I have no excuse." she kept her face down, her voice dragging with sorrow at her mother's anger, did she really piss her off that much? Well she imagined that she did.

Hilda spent a few moments deciding and trying to remain really, she'd swear she was going soft since she reacted so easily to her daughter's sudden transformation back into the cute and timid Elise that she knew and loved really, the one she feared for, though now it was settled once she saw the first tear hit the ground. Hilda sighed deeply, putting her pistol back in its sheath and just quietly taking her daughter into her arms.

For a few moments Elise just rested in her mother's rocking arms and let the tears fall, all those of fear and sadness seeming to find their way out, any nervousness she had was slowly creeping away; the world always felt much safer in her mother's arms.

"Stop crying sweetie...I guess I'm not really all that mad, but do understand that your drastic decision did piss me off...alright? I'm not gonna blast your little mate now, don't worry. But I want you to know, without telling me at least, it really bothers me; you can't forget dear that I haven't been used to being a mother, but its grown on me." she whispered this gently to her daughter, rubbing her head and sighing again; yeah she'd gone soft.

She nuzzled into her mother's arms and hugged her worrysome mother close, though it was more like she was the worried one, Elise feared her mother's wrath and honestly the fact that she had let herself ride her urges; it felt liberating but at the cost of pissing her mother off, it worried her now.

"Hey kid, come on out of the shower. Now I'm gonna give you both a quick little chat, what's done is done and I won't stand in front of it, but I do have an ominous warning for you both." she said as she watched Y'tue walk into the open from the shower room.

Once she got them both into the small quarters room that was shared by her daughter and herself, Hilda sat them both on the bed and leaned on the wall.

"Things between me and Elise's father didn't work out, at first I thought we had something and he was sweet, but look fast alright? You two have bonded and unlike what me and Elise's sassy father had; you two can't break without really hurting one another." she cast a serious look there, hoping they got what she meant.

She put a hand on Elise's shoulder and went softer for a moment.

"I couldn't stand to see any pain on my little space angel's face, to know that her decision came back to haunt her, she's mated with someone that she feels is extra important; even if it was caused by a moon heat. I know that my Elise would only do this with someone she found suitable." Hilda knew her daughter had been genetically advanced, between this and Hilda's raising (although a short time) she knew her daughter decided Y'tue was the one.

Y'tue only nodded at this point, since she was still talking but he was starting to understand just what she was getting down to on what she was saying.

"If you ever have any problems, you better work it out; I won't have you two ruin one another because of some misunderstanding, you hear me? I won't have it, I assure you if I have to step in, negotiations will start and stop with one thing." she said patting her stun pistol right on her hip.

"Now you two, play nice...but not in my room got it? Do that in your room Y'tue, this bed...yeah, its not much but I am going to be sleeping in it." she warned them with a simple look, she meant it even though it was playful.

Though soon following this, she hugged Elise and patted Y'tue's head before she sat on the bed.

"Anyway, I'm going to bed, you two scamper out and stay out of trouble." she said as she without a warning started to take her clothing off, this causing Y'tue to stumble on the way out of the room.

With Y'tue gone, Hilda smirked and looked at her daughter who rose slowly, Hilda said one more thing to her daughter and couldn't help but grin.

"Looks like you've got a good boy on your hands dear, take care alright?"

"T-thank you mom!" she said with a beaming smile, her tail swishing gently while her ears perked up, most certainly was she beaming with happiness.

"Yeah yeah...I love you sweetie." she said waving at her daughter idly.

"I love you too mommy." Elise clasped her hands together, very happy with her mother's calmness.

"Uh huh, now good night hun." she said as she returned to her undressing as she soon just got under the blanket and headed off to sleep.

The moment still raw for Elise but she was all too happy to have it as it was going for her now. This was true freedom, she had someone that she was tied to with whom she was sure not only cherished her but was also wanting to see her smile, what wasn't there to love? At this moment she had no answer for that.

--On the Bridge-

Gene was on the bridge and carefully monitoring things for a change, as that seemed to be something deemed of actual use it was hard to say which way it could be rated, but still all the same it worked. Gene was still being well...Gene and lazing back in the Captain's chair..nothing but clear sailing right? He was thinking as much until he heard the proximity alarm go off, things were about to get ugly.

he pressed the communications line quickly and set it off.

"Head's up guys, we've got company!" was all he managed to get up before the ship was rocked by a missile, however fortunate that the crew had much better shields these days.

It didn't take long before Jim, Aisha, and Hilda were back at the corresponding seats and prepped for battle.

Gene did seem to be troubled since he recognized the ship that was stalking them now, didn't they just take that ship out? That was that creepy bastard's ship, Gene knew they weren't done, but he'd self destructed the ship, how in the hell did this prick have another matching ship of that nature?

"Get it together Green Horn! Don't forget who we're dealing with here, the Kei pirates have resources far beyond any single individual your used to dealing with; don't let something as plain as another ship spook you." Hilda was saying in a tone which warned him not to get over worried about the small details, as for now they were to deal with this and that was all.

--On the Kei pirate ship-

A soulessly driven ship that fired all lasers and all weapons at the command by voice, it was someone that had been crossed in the past.

"Starwind..." was all that this voice said, there was going to be hell to pay for what had been done, Gene Starwind...that man had to die by his hands, by his magic, and so now he would destroy his soul; as Starwind had once done to him. The Dance with the end was about to begin and Lord Hazanko; having lost his best would see this finished himself.

Everyone would know true fear, each soul on that ship would perish justly, it was the time for the Great Ruler Lord Hazanko to take over the universe; as was his destiny through the Galactic Leyline.

(End Chapter)

You guessed it folks, its Lord Hazanko back in the flesh, and now we round down to the last chapters of this little wagon train ride; don't worry I don't plan on taking centuries to finish this, I am going to do it much faster while I'm at school, it will be a helluva ride, hope to still have you all reading and reviewing; take care now.

Till then adieu

-Quentix.


	21. Chapter: Shriek of the Leyline Sera

A/N: Now it's time to face the music, Lord Hazanko has returned from beyond the grace and now that things are really cooking a new kind of battle arises. How will the Great Master of Senjutsu be defeated if as before he proved immune to even the Mana Caster? Come and bear witness to the final battle in this chapter.

Now enough chatting, here we go!

(End A/N)

--

Chapter 21: Hazanko's Revenge and the Shriek of the Leyline Sera

As Hazanko's ship cut off the XGP, his many weapons fired off in union, all under control his will; from his command chair he commanded all with his Senjutsu, which was a menial effort, but he would have none of his 108 stars mess this up.

"Surrender your life to the fate that has chosen you Starwind! You have escaped death for the last time, you and your companions will all submit to death as they should have from day one of their birth." He granted them the honor of hearing his word, no transmission...had he really become so powerful?

Though he gave them no time to respond, he raised his illustrious left hand and blocked an onslaught of several missiles aimed for his ship. While his flagship was nothing truly special, his magic was more than enough to bring an end to this battle.

The Great Hazanko having to raise a hand to protect his ship? The thought of such a thing angered him that much more, but it would be fine if they would be dead in the end. He'd had enough of this defiance, these fleas fought against a fate greater than them; it was his judgment that made this decision for them, they should have been honored to meet death by his hands!

--On board the XGP—

The sudden surprise of Hazanko's attack had caught the crew off guard at first, but it was nothing that Gene hadn't been prepared for; he knew it was never over with this evil alive. They had to destroy him once and for all; he knew that the bastard might come back around.

"Move it Gilliam! All of those upgrades better come into full use, hear me?!" he said as he took the pair of advanced grappler arm controls and went to action.

Gilliam boosted the ship around violently, with movements that would've jerked the crew around, but due to Melfina and Jim's attentive purchases (And Fred's generous contributions); the XGP was still the best in the Galaxy.

The XGP effortlessly avoided the vast amounts of firepower wielded by Lord Hazanko's larger ship, while Gene and Hilda used the sets of Grapplers to defend the ship by destroying those numerous cannons on the assaulting Flagship; in all honesty it seemed too easy. Hazanko's power deflected any missiles or firepower aimed for the vitals of the ship, so why let his guns get destroyed?

Hilda knew of that man and knew better, he had ensured that she died in the past for knowing too much, for stealing something so important to his plans, and yet in the end he had his wish; he was destroyed for wanting too much. No...Now wasn't the time to think about the past! She focused now, she and Gene were here now; she would see Hazanko killed once and for all this time.

"No mistakes Starwind, he dies and this time he won't come back." She knew about his being taken out before, but obviously his will was greater than that; as much the way she returned, so had he.

There was something indeed lurking beneath the surface and clear was what it semed to be; the way that the powerful Kei Pirate Lord was wielding the ship with not even a fragment of his innerstrength, eyes set on the ship that was once a prize that he would have used. Now he had no need for it, Starwind, or the beings on the ship as they were all mere insects to him now.

"You all died years ago! Especially you Starwind, its time for old ghosts to get expunged and this time remain dead." his booming echoing voice sent a shiver down even the bravest of individuals, since his voice meant death incarnate.

How did you beat the Will of the Leyline? The XGP Crew was attempting to do so.

Lord Hazanko had long since decided that his playtime would end and the lives of those within his palm would be extinguished in a meager effort, he wanted Starwind and his crew to try and stop him one last time. As his face shifted into something of a cruel smile, with a simple effort of Senjutsu and expression of his will did all matter cease to move.

Just like that did the mighty will of Hazanko stop everything, all movement within the space he deemed his territory. The impossible was happening once Hazanko walked on space...walked on the solid space as if it were ground.

--On board the XGP--

Gene slammed his fist on the console, attempting to make one of the Grapplers move, what the hell was happening?! They didn't have time to be stuck still.

"You'd better give me a damn good reason that we're not moving Gilliam! Speak the hell up now!" his anger was one thing that Gilliam had grown used to, but the dire situation prompted a much swifter response.

"To respond plainly Gene, we are paralyzed by Hazanko's power, there is no technical reason why we should not be moving, understand that his will is absolute; he has been marked by the Leyline and none of us may stop him at any time with even this ship." the words were cold and calculated in response which meant one thing more; Gilliam was frightened and had shut off his emotions.

Gene shot out of his seat and raced to the weapon room, even while his mind brought back the painful weapons before him of how he died the first time, he was damned sure that things would not happen that way again. He would not allow them to rest in the hands of nothing.

"Damn it, Gilliam lock everyone inside their rooms...some old spooks don't know how to die, I'll finish this one myself. I have an old score to settle with this new one..." he held out the special shell that He'd found while on a space trek. He thought of it as fate and laughed, this caster shell was something else, nothing he knew for sure; this would be the peace maker this time.

As he geared up and turned to get into his space gear, he'd heard several sounds of shuffling. Without turning he spoke seriously, he had no time for this.

"I'm the captain around these parts, get your asses back into your rooms and bunker down, I've got this." though as he turned, he found himself eye to eye with Hilda; who pushed him back to the wall and gripped his collar.

"...Stupid Rookie, sacrificing yourself means what? You can't fight him now, alone or together we stand only so much of a chance. If he can freeze this ship, there's definitely no way some idiot's sacrifice is going to make all that much of a difference." she tossed him to the ground effortlessly and moved to gear up.

The C'tarls had without a word been ready since before the start of this, in particular Haomaru was geared up with special face paint and using a new hilt that he'd put on his blade; dressed in a strange but fitting ceremonial kimono and hakama. Aisha stood next to her lover and was just popping her knuckles, there was nothing more necessary than just going out there and ripping Hazanko's throat out while he was tied down.

Gene laughed softly and said nothing, he just got up and resumed putting on his gear; one way or another this was going toe nd if he had anything to say about this. That was what it seemed could be assured, he was going to let nothing go in his life, the only sacrifice he planned for would be the death of Hazanko.

--Back with Hazanko--

Lord Hazanko was amused by what he sensed, thoughts of resistance and murder, did they think they could cause him harm? It was rather pathetic when one's bait attempted to grow a brain or some will to resist. He raised his hand and transformed the very essence of space into the impossible. His great power had generated one vast and wide plains region within the blackness of space, physical land became as real as any asteroid floating within the region.

Without warning, Hazanko's voice boomed over the region, loud enough for the XGP crew to hear as that was all he required.

"Emerge Crew of the XGP, I have created this landmass by my will. By now you've come to understand there is no escape, there is nothing you can do to harm me; but for my amusement I will give any willing to face me a death equivalent to the suffering you deserve. One pass is what you shall receive, then you will be incapacitated and left to watch as your friends and loved ones try. When all of those who resist me have fallen, then...I will kill you all slowly and leave this landmass as a statement to any in the universe who would dare to resist or defy my power."

His voice had stopped but one thought passed through each of those who listened to hear him out, one mention of the word that caused Hazanko to cackle. '_Madman'_ did they foolishly believe him so little of a person? It was pathetic that they would not acknowledge their place.

"How pitiful that the bait worms wish to fight back, I am no madman as you see I am the Sovereign Lord of this Universe, the true master of all!" spoken with equal confidence, there was no one who could cause him harm.

He opened the port space on the ship and waited for his foolish opponents to emerge, he would allow nothing to close and needed no underhanded gifts to deal with any foolish insurgents to his rule, he would merely send them to Oblivion and close the door on his past once and for all; then he would destroy the Tendo King and assure his absolute rule.

---On the open field---

As the group emerged from the XGP, the words had come to an end; this was going to be the end of this Derelict Poltergeist of a lousy past. Hazanko was standing at the center of the field awaiting the attacks of these fools, the final attacks that any of them would have, he would give them past and then put them down, how could they expect to survive?

As Gene stepped forward to make the first move, he was stopped quickly by Hilda who stepped forward. Her body shivering with rage...what could have set her off? but the man who had been responsible for her original death, this man who brought her to death. She gave a simple gesture and then let her fingers do the speaking, gripping the holster on point was picking up.

"This has gone far enough Starwind, let me go first; this scum owes it to me." she said it clearly since he did owe this to her, she did her best to destroy this master of senjutsu, and would be just what she had in his mind; with the prototype explosive that she'd had there.

She'd been veteran an outlaw to know what Senjutsu was and yet alone see what it was when devastating users were busy with their incantations and she well knew that she had no such chance; the old memories went out the window since she had only one thing in mind: Be rid of Hazanko so that life would go on for her, she would keep on living for the sake of her daughter and bring out the best in her foolish child. She would see her grand children and to her amusement she was even looking forward to the odd moments they'd have, she passed off a little breath and pushed those thoughts aside since she had to focus. That little idiot had better not throw his life away, that was one thing she thought before focusing on the task at hand.

Hilda stepped forward and set her good eye on the creature still hidden behind a doll's mask, she opened up with a few plasma charges that she launched at him from a small sack she had; a bad of tricks in one way. She knew they'd do nothing but the instability they caused in temporal space? It was brilliant, the blasts resounded like music to her ears and without waiting she threw several more charges, though this time they were incendiary and set fire to the smoke around Hazanko. She knew he thought it was a waste of time but this would be wonderful...once she finished the trick.

Indeed she was right, Hazanko sat there as he effortlessly protected himself from the fire and the initial plasma charges; he'd let her little trick finish and then put her lights out, though no...she wouldn't die this way, they'd all die at once after knowing that they failed to even cause him harm. He laughed vilely as the flames did nothing and the discharges seemed worthless, what could she be hoping for?

Hilda launched three more sets of charges, nitro vapor charges, hyper flare charges, and the coup de tat to the set up; Ether fume flares set on a 4 minute delay.

"Time to finish this Hazanko, Adios!" she knew that it would do nothing, but they had only one chance at this.

As she fired off missiles from the body frame she was wearing, she also fired off each of her laser pistols, well whatever it took to get this started. All struck on impact and exploded into a violent whorl, however the result was just what both she and Hazanko expected; absolutely nothing happened.

"That's one down." he said calmly as he looked in her direction, Hilda's body jerked violently as she let off a cry; exploding into a mist of blood before she crumpled like a marionette to the ground.

"Hilda!" Gene almost ran to her, but was immediately stopped by Haomaru who grabbed his shoulder and held him still; keeping him in his tracks while he looked ahead at the remnants of the blasts around Hazanko. These filaments and such destructive remnants left no marks on the Kei Pirate Lord perhaps...but he knew that she had left them an opportunity and he would not see it wasted by Gene's haste.

"Hold on Gene, do not let your emotions get the better of us, she is not dead yet." Haomaru said calmly.

"Get the hell off of me cat, before I blow your fricken skull in!" he didn't want to hear it, he was going to see if Hilda was alright.

That is until a blow to the stomach lifted him off of the ground, he doubled over on the fist before he was dropped to the ground; in shock from the sudden surges of pain that knocked all the wind out of him. As he looked up he saw an annoyed Aisha looking down at him, standing beside her lover and mate; what the hell did she do that for?!

"Get a hold of yourself Gene, listen up and listen good. Though there's not any time to talk about it, understand...Hilda is leaving a chance open; you are going last. We all will do something to increase your odds of victory, I don't know what Hao has in mind but I know not to doubt him. So sit there and try not to whine too much." Aisha was as assuring as ever, she left it at that and followed Haomaru onto the field of battle.

She cleared her mind of any worries, as Hao had been showing her to with a single breath clear her mind and soul. She was going to focus everything that they learned together, and for her moment she thought about two things: Their child within her, future together, and how wonderful it would be to ravage him after they won. She was going to make sure they both knew how alive they were. She rubbed his arm and looked him in the face.

"You hear that Hao? I've got my faith in you, you'd better have a plan." she said with a growl, as her body shifted partway and her tail rubbed against his once more.

While both Ctarls approached Hazanko, their focus was direct on their prey; Haomaru let himself over and his body began to grow with flexing muscle, bones shifting as he transformed...he felt suddenly the heat of the full moon. Aisha smirked more, there was a full moon? She felt the power growing that much more and her focus and confidence picked up; they were going to rip him to shreds.

Haomaru's focus had become that much greater as he focused all of that energy into one place; the edge of his blade as his body began to glower...visibly his ki was a radiant bluish color, much like the array of the moon a small halo formed around his body as he stood to Hazanko's left. Suddenly Hazanko was surrounded by three forms of his opponent and on the forth corner to his west was the other Ctarl, Aisha.

"So you little cats want to play a game? Do whatever you will, just know that I will be finishing it for you." he said cooly, though he had to admit the lightshow was impressive. Someone who used his inner-energy and used it not only to cast an illusion but also increase his strength? It was impressive to see.

Haomaru looked to Aisha, it was just like they'd practiced in the gymnasium, they had only one time to practice and they could make it count here; the true secret of the sacred dual technique he'd created with his lover was to leave their energy illuminating in the air as a false lens; the true might would come...when Gene used his caster; he and Aisha's focused energies would linger alongside Hilda's earlier attacks, at a very subtle level.

"Now Aisha, Sacred Shoreline Ougi: Lunar Halo Crossroads!" the illusions and Aisha moved at once, both Ctarls completing their transformations in part; Haomaru becoming something of an anthropomorphic Tiger; his body lined by glowing white stripes and black markings.

As Aisha's transformation had become complete and her mind in focus...she was able to hear Haomaru's attacks...and in perfect reflection to his move; performs the immediate opposite slashing motions with claws. It was a beautiful line of symmetry that both had cut along the barrier of Hazanko; enough to point out that Aisha's claw gashed his hip hard. It was enough that even as the attack ended, Hazanko had already begun retaliating.

His spell had found Aisha and sent the transformed white tiger-like Aisha into a violent whirling spiral of blood. His eyes were bloodshot in his anger, she broke his barrier and dared to touch him?! Though another slice along his adjoining side, had him react twice as violent. A literal slash of a spell had swatted Haomaru into opposite direction from Aisha, to Gene's horror both Ctarls landed as blood began to shower from the gravity heralded hulk of landmass; was it really this hopeless?

"Pathetic...but I must applaud their efforts, causing me physical distress however will only intensify your pain. Whoever of your crew is next had better come now, my patience is wearing thin after that little stunt." Hazanko had taken some damage and for that he would destroy them all very slowly in the end of this mess.

--On the ship--

Having been held inside by her mother's sleeping gas, it was the worry within her mind and that awakened her first, she was laid out next to her new mate, who was sleeping soundly. Did her mother get them both? She found a note next to where she had been laid down. it was from her mother:

"Elise,

Understand that I don't want you involved in this battle going on as you wake. No matter what you do what you want and what I don't say. but listen and listen good sweetie, you'll not like what you see when you come outside. If I'm right, then Hazanko will have caught up to us and left all of us bloodied up good. He doesn't know about you...if you want to get upset about the sight that you will probably see; do me a favor and focus it on Hazanko. You have a special power sweetie, more than you'll ever know. Bring that useless moron next to you outside as well, let this snap the both of you into one last rage; if Starwind fails your our last bet.

Don't waste time finishing this, go!"

she dropped the letter as soon as she read that last part, her mother knew how to plan ahead apparently even on short notice.

"Wake up Y'tue! Quickly!" she shook him violently and picked him up by the side, worriedly shaking him. To her relief he woke up quickly and looked at her with a sobering face as he awakened.

"What happened..? Elise where is-" she cut him off with a soft kiss and then drew back before he could return it.

"Let's go, we have to get outside, things are really bad."

She tugged him to his feet and started taking him outside, it wasn't, long before both of them were racing down the halls of the XGP and making their way out to the open to reach the outside. They didn't have any time to linger onboard, it was worse as Y'tue no longer felt his master's strong presence, nor did he sense Aisha or Hilda's indomitable wills there.

--Outside, on the battlefield--

Elise was first to get outside and it was just as her mother thought, the sight...was a horrid thing to behold. First Elise sank to her knees, she spotted her mother unmoving and in a pool of her own blood. She caught sight of Aisha's tattered body upon her own rags of clothing and her blood and glanced at Haomaru's downed body...what...did her mother write that as a joke?! Everyone was dead!

"No!!!! No no!!! Mother!!!! Aisha!!!! Haomaru!!!!" her face had exploded into tears, they were dead...dead just like that? She felt something inside tugging at her. Something wanted to escape her, she wanted to flee this feeling of something gnawing around inside of her, what could it be? Something that was growing and growing more, faster...her heartrate began to pick up. She looked up at the moon and her eyes were cast aglow; her transformation had begun.

Y'tue looked on with the horror and killing intent filling his body, had he been so useless as to let sleep hold him back? He watched the tattered form of his master and his katana stuck in the ground, is this all it meant? How could he do what his master could not? He gripped the sheath of his sword and yanked it out. His teeth and muscles bulging moreso as he gladly let his own rage pump him up, this was no transformation of the moon's...this was the despair and rage riding side of his other Ctarl half, the blood of the calm forest feline...began enraged and let it pump the body of said feline until he could take no more; then he lashed out. But the change began more...brutal, as bones began to shift and his eyes were aglow with the light of the moon...true change coming now as he began to transform.

Right beside her mate did Elise's transformation differ so dramatically, her body had become surrounded by a beam of the moonlight from the sky. Her body had ripped her clothing and her savage body was rippled with newfound muscle and yet...as she floated off of the ground she was lifeless. The change came without warning and it was sparcely done, she was also catatonic...nonresponsive to anything; there was nothing but silence surrounding her.

Hazanko seemed to be somewhat alarmed, he had the power of the Leyline, what did he have to fear of this girl? He was fine without bulked up moron trying to move at him. He saw the muscles and the glare from him, the rigid claws had become a fierce set that tightly gripped the sword; but this boy was not the worry he had. It was this girl that he was watching intently, what power he felt eminating from her was enough to make even the great Pirate Lord wonder...what could this girl do?

"Get as upset as you wish, I will end this here and now, both of you will die." he raised his hand to stop these two, before they'd even get started would he end it.

As he sent the shockwave at the both of them, the shockwave hit Y'tue hard and soon he was bleeding from every inch of his body. But those white glaring eyes focused on Hazanko and he did not go down. In fact, he began his charge from the edge of the ship...suddenly he was gone in a raised blur of speed as those powerful muscles only increased the haste of the pumped Y'tue. Rage fed his every inch and ensured one thing: that his fangs would reach Hazanko. Elise on the otherhand was unharmed by the attack, but...the feeling of warm heat on her body had her eyes refocus. This blood...she looked it over and sniffed it, then she tasted it.

"Y'tue...? Y-Y'tue..?" she said his name softly, but as she looked on, he was already gone from her side.

She saw him and his rage, the blood trail he left in his wake and most of all; the grip of his next attack. She was gone in an instant, suddenly vanished from that ring of light.

Y'tue was suddenly upon Hazanko and the blade already a blurred edge, jagged by appearance from his sheer rate of speed and power.

"Forest Shoreline Blade Ougi: Raging Lunar Fang!" a technique made up on the spot, he went on instinct to name it...and the attack hit with a violent set of sparks igniting the blade's edge onto fire. He passed through Hazanko's barrier and sliced the pirate lord's stomach with a fury beyond anything he'd ever known; with such force enough to spill the Kei Pirate Lord's intestines. Had the lord not already made his wish to heal every wound...after the attack was done.

Hazanko's left hand raised, his eyes were full of white-hot fury; now he would exact that pain 7x's fold and here he would claim his first victim of the XGP crew.

"You worm, whenever the dirt resists the heavens above it cannot help but become a pathetic example of the weakness spawned from below, now die!" he yelled as he brought his up in a whirling swing, at this point aiming to dismember him with some force that was greater than something that could be imagined by this beast, something that Hazanko had served up especially for him.

--Within the Leyline's Wake--

The attack hit...as so it appeared, but no more blood left his body, what could have hit with such a violence and yet left nothing to chance? He could not say what had come to pass just now. But the fool was still standing there quivering and Hazanko had not seen what had caused him to stop despite any great stress he'd put himself under just now.

A lyre sounded and suddenly the landscape had changed...it had become riddled with flowers...suddenly carnations, roses, tulips, bloody petals, all of which surrounded each member of the XGP crew. Around Gene a ring of Dandelions had gathered and seemed to remain steady...as the apparent unconscious form of Elise drifted down...strumming the lyre as bloody tears fell from her eyes; tear by tear did her eyes release as she looked beyond herself and down to her bleeding lover, whose body quivered with his own uncontrollable rage.

"...Calm." was all that was spoken from her mouth and suddenly, his body's over-muscular frame was suddenly gone...unceremoniously did he suddenly collapse, falling into Elise's tail and being lifted with an unshakable ease.

There was nothing but a whisper to follow her words as her focus passed over the battlefield, this would be decided with or without Gene Starwind it seemed. Or...would it?

Lord Hazanko no longer cared, all of his attention turned to this girl who's heavenly appearance had him in awe...and suddenly fearful, he would have to dispose of her in order to see that his power base was not threatened.

"Girl upon your heavenly brow you have sealed your fate, as mysterious as your gaze is all the more meaningless, for your death is mutually assured by my decision. I control the Leyline and that means I control life, death, and all outcomes of man from here on in!" As Hazanko attempted to command the Leyline, nothing happened.

There was nothing in motion as space and time both became motionless, as long as this girl strummed her lyre. The Leyline Sera had emerged from her shell and cast the decree of the sorrows that had befallen her.

"...I wish that all destruction caused would return to its owner, all blood spilled would seek out the one who's destructive wish causes imbalance. Please embue Lord Hazanko with his wish to meet the many fates that rule men. His fear reeks of this spoken wish." her heavenly voice suddenly became like daggers, cold and cruel...yet not violent and not hateful. Her judgment past on the Pirate Lord, now his fate was to those who truly held power.

The Pirate Lord faded into shadows slowly, as if an actor being drawn behind curtains, and suddenly there was resumed peace.

"Let the others wake, as if but from a dream, refreshed and revitalized and let them save themselves. So this messenger will say, but...awaken this one now who has the heart of this messenger." her smile cast upon Y'tue who was cradled briefly within her tail and then her arms. This before she passed into unconsciousness and all space and time resumed.

The Song of the Leyline Sera had released her sweet melody and soothed the universe once again.

---With Gene---

In this blink of an eye it was all suddenly over, what the hell had just happened? He blinked and then suddenly Hazanko was gone, all of the blood that had been spilled did remain, but the others were...not moving? What was really going on?

"Hey, Hey you guys get up, move or something! Yo!" Gene felt that even after having seen this that calling to them would not be inevitable.

To his surprise Hilda sat up and rubbed her head, she seemed to be perfectly fine as if she were never scratched. As Gene suspected her face spoke of confusion and even a bit of concern, but she shot up to her feet as soon as she felt the ground shift; yeah...this thing was suddenly unstable right? It wasn't originally supposed to exist way the hell out here.

"Get your ass on the ship greenhorn! Hurry up and get the ship in gear!" she yelled at him while she started towards the ship, a little wobbly but no worse for the ware.

Aisha was next to awaken, on curled over Haomaru and yawning gently while her ears twitched softly. She was alright? While she hadn't gotten her bearings yet, her sense told her something was direly wrong. She shook her lover briefly and then cursed, shooting up to her feet and throwing him over her shoulder. While he was a great warrior, he woke like a stone trying to rise from a lake bed underwater.

While Aisha had Haomaru in tow, she noticed that Y'tue and Elise; who were the furthest out on the landmass had finally gotten into gear.

"Hey get your asses over here now! This thing is coming apart!" She yelled loudly, it was almost a cat-like yowl given they were under a full moon.

That much made Y'tue that much faster but as the mass began to come to pieces, he wasn't thinking about any of it. His eyes were on the ship but his mind and soul were with his savior, he was perhaps one of the few that understood what had happened to Lord Hazanko, he had been rushed off to be judged by those who's powers he vied for control over so badly. Those who truly lorded over the Galactic Leyline it seemed: The Leyline's creators.

Hilda had waited at that open bay, if this idiot made her life anymore dramatic she was going to taser the shit out of him later. She didn't hold her breath as he jumped one last time, the moron was going to make it; but why did it also have to make a fool like him seem so...heroic? As soon as he landed in the bay, she had already begun closing the door and yanked him in by the neck; so the vacuum didn't suck him out.

Of all that had come to pass, it was only through the sweet serenade by the sleeping songstress that swept solace through space. A Sera's Song.

(End Chapter)

Sorry this took foooreever guys. For all those who were waiting I finally managed to finish this chapter. This was by far the hardest to write for me, I wanted it to be done right, but here it finally is. As Outlaw Star comes to a close in a few chapters, you can expect the next one to be faster. What will happen next? Stay tuned...heh heh.

Till then I bid you adieu

-Quentix


	22. Chapter: Nocturne of the Leyline

A/N: After a long bit of annoyance from school I am finally ready to bring this to a follow-up moment, I can see that this will be the fitting thought, as the final chapters of my fic come to fruition. I will make this more like magic in its ending or so I hope; bear with me folks as I'm doing finals and have been under a hell of a lot of duress. School is fun, but certainly no picnic.

Without further adieu, the next chapter; we are closer to the end than ever!

(End A/N)

Chapter 22: Nocturne of the Leyline

Gene had no idea what exactly had happened on the landmass, he remembers having challenged Hazanko alongside the rest of the crew…had things truly been so hopeless? He remembers blood and unbelievable pain for about a split second, before a heavenly voice drew to his ear and whispered for him to rise. To word it was a wonderful voice that was almost too sweet to sound true, something about it made him think that it was an illusion and to that he knew no wrong, just that he had to answer to it; this warm sounding tone which made him feel safe.

As the rest of the XGP's Crew enjoyed a silent ride out of the section of space they had just been in, thoughts ran wild and all eyes were silently upon the one sleeping soul amongst their crew; Elise who still lay sleeping despite the passage of time. She had been unconscious and resting peacefully within her bed, with a vigilant Y'tue by her side and looking on with a subtle wish in his heart: for her to awaken.

Not one word had been spoken since the duel with Hazanko had ended some few hours ago…however it was not the failure that had been a reason why the silence followed; no in fact…it was the fact that a miracle had saved them from a fate of suffering. Lord Hazanko, one cruel Kei Pirate Lord who returned from beyond the grave to seek revenge on those who had once destroyed him. Somehow they had pulled through and survived against him, even with the Leyline at his whim…a greater miracle had saved them the death that he wished to give to the entire crew.

"Gene...what happened out there?" the concerned voice of Jim's finally brought sound to the silent bridge.

"...I haven't gotten there myself yet Jim, I don't know what to say that would remotely describe it." the words coming from the legendary captain of the 'Outlaw Star', as after the defeat of so many and winning the race...he was a living legend by rumor and reputation.

But none of that even registered to Gene right now, it was just the bear fact that and the others were not only breathing; but were on their ship and off to...anywhere. Whatever planet was closest to let them know that they weren't suffering in hell and that this wasn't some cruel joke by the evil Lord. To make them all feel safe before crushing that reality.

Aisha wasn't on the bridge as of late, Hilda had been at ops and had let her return to the one place she needed to be; in the arms of her love and trying to cope with what happened. Yeah, it seemed that everyone needed a little of that in late...the right to relax was something that they had all earned; but the question being was whether their minds could fathom what had happened.

-With Aisha & Haomaru-

Within the confines of their shared room, Aisha had spent every minute since the return to the Outlaw Star in Haomaru's arms. Instead of a celebration for being alive and all being well...there was a silent reflection being undertaken by her. They had lost that fight and by all rights should be dead. She knew that if not for the amazing youth that was Hilda's daughter...neither she, Haomaru, or their child would have a future right now. To this fact it gave her a taste of a painful reality...it did seem that the unbeatable Ctarl ctarl could be stopped after all.

Though she was not alone in her understanding of the moment, she was being tended to by Haomaru, who pet her back and ran his fingers through her hair while she lay in his arms. The fact that they had survived by some small figment of a chance was the reason she was sort of out of it, not that she wasn't happy to be alive. But how did one explain a feeling so profound as to finding out that you do get a happy ending right? She wasn't able to really place it into words; this is what brought on her silence for the most part.

"Hey...Haomaru." her voice soft and somewhat subdued still.

"Hmm?" he responded to her question with a soft sound and a smile upon his face.

Seeing that goofy smile let her know that she had indeed survived, since if this were hell her beloved would not be sitting there with a look on his face that he always had now it seemed. Since she had tamed her wild swordsman lover, life had been interesting all round.

She had since then run back into Gene and the old crew, rejoined of her own accord and joined up with old friends, she'd witnessed the revival of an old space legend thanks to the Leyline, and faced off with an old blood enemy once again. There were no words to describe reliving an entire time in so short a moment...at least for her words seemed to fall short in that case.

"Thank you for being you, that's all...you will make a wonderful father." her smile was there for a moment, before it curled into a wide grin; the pride of a Ctarl Ctarl was hard to keep down.

"I am with you, there is no way I cannot be a father worthy of such a jubilant child." he seemed to be sure of his words then.

She gave him a nod of acknowledge there...he would make a great father and knowing him; he'd teach their child his heirloom of a sword style that she'd come to respect. But their son or daughter would also be fighting like a true Ctarl ctarl if she had anything to say about it.

"They can learn the sword style, but they are learning how true Ctarl ctarls fight you got it?" she said with a small kiss to the top of his hand.

To this he answered with a soft laugh, of course...he knew that she was still proud and ever so lovely whenever she got cocky.

"I would have it no other way." this said with a soft lick to her cheek, indeed he would have it no other way.

That much made her smile, she could always count on her mate's support up to this point; it was one of his most defining traits and in her mind, one of his most appealing. He loved everything about her, from her attitude to her directness, and had answered her near demand of him to be her mate. He accepted her with his arms wide open...lovingly is what made that count so deep to her heart; it was him now and their child that would be born within time down the line. She knew that she could enjoy a full life with this half-ctarl that had swept her off of her feet, granted her instincts were right and he had the proper gene of longevity that all ctarls enjoyed. She was sure that her Haomaru did since he exhibited so many fine traits of the Ctarl Ctarl, to her liking it was his pride that was present within him; albeit in a subtle and near harmless manner.

She found his presence enriching and to that same reason she loved him all the more, realizing just how lucky she was to have a well-rounded nimrod swordsman...whose ideals could get him killed if he wasn't guided properly; she would not see his selfless swordsman ideals kill him, she'd be damned if she did.

"I know...you promised to me that you'd be more careful Hao and you've kept your word, I am glad that you were able to follow it this far. But I'm going to ask you one more thing towards that same thing...don't think about it alright? I want a straight answer to my question...which from now on will you trust my decisions regarding your crazy ideals of being a 'swordsman' and stuff?" she made it clear and hoped that he would answer yes.

It was just as she could have hoped, he didn't even blink before answering her.

"I already do Aisha, as there is no one more capable of knowing what may be safe or unsafe when in regards to my mate and our child's health. If you think something is dumb just voice it, I will hear you out and heed your wisdom." though his words were poetic as usual, it was just what she had hoped for.

To that she offered his lips a gentle peck before her fingers slid back through his hair gently, it seemed that was all that she needed to decide that she was going to reward his sweetness and indulge her wish to know that she was still alive. She wanted to feel something more than a nice calm that she felt and there was more than one way to do that; though one that she loved a great deal when with him.

"I think its time I rewarded that sweetness...hmm, I've abstained from you from far too long." these words said with a hint of her plans within them while she turned within his grasp and crawled into his lap slowly.

Her body pressing flatly against his while her eyes met his, it seemed to be nothing but a powerful wish from her heart to repay her mate's kindness; this one who stood with her against all odds and would fall with her. What more could she have asked for in a significant other as she had before her now? Such a beautiful specimen...a hybrid of the mighty and the elegant, crafted into this beautiful male that rested below of...what perfection she found in his varying imperfections. His over-thoughtfulness and his want to protect her like any typical male delivered with a careful word of caution, unlike other suitors she'd had facing her, there was nothing about him that turned her off.

He was her ideal...even though he was a complete blockhead and missed her hints of interest in him, any words she shared with him were treated with his gentle hearted replies and yet he never once approached her. From the day she discovered his harbored emotions for her did she raid his heart, like a bandit who couldn't have enough bounty...this was what she took from her lover each time they kissed...and it was this reason why he was now her mate. She had considered very much about her beautiful Haomaru, that he might just be her lover...and then he wooed her heart when they first made love. No mere lover would do that and then declare everything that was his; was not only hers but would protect her from harm.

Her foolish and idyllic Hao...and his long locks that she found herself now just strumming through his hair, thinking about all of the things that she was going to do to him in his reward. Yes, her love was the way she rewarded him since he never would have to think what to do if she left his side...she never would even if death knocked at her door. She would resist with everything in her person just to stay with him and their child: the result of making love so frequently. She giggled once...a rare thing for the usually focused mind of Aisha's, but she found that poetry roaming her mind now kept her distracted.

"You know Hao? I think Poetry's nothing but a big distraction." she said at random, right from the thoughts passing through her mind.

"Huh-" his words of response were immediately cut off by her kiss, Aisha had been speaking enough in her mind.

She took it into her own hands and responded rather quickly; giving her lover a soft kiss and gradually pressing it into a deeper need. Controlling the pace herself was just what she was looking for and she had that now. No more talking and no more thinking...just a free period of loving because they could. This was what it should have been from the beginning, a powerful and overwhelming rush of need that they held deep.

While the two Ctarls pursued making love, Gene was just sitting at the bridge reflecting on what had happened...from the battles they'd fought and how swiftly they were brought to an end; was it some kind of a message from the Leyline itself? This young girl Elise was some kind of a major gift and it seemed that there was a lot with her that wasn't possible to explain. She was a living soul, a half human/half ctarl bundle of confusion with powers that appeared to be beyond even her own understanding. She had already made some truly adult decisions and yet still was a growing teen, she was still the daughter of the recently revived Hilda.

-With Gene-

How much sense did all of it make? There just didn't seem to be any true kind of understanding no matter which way that you cut it. How could he say that they were the ones destined to survive...another stroke of luck for Gene Starwind. He knew just how close the loss had been, there won by the shavings of a fingernail. He was on Death's door and was being toyed with by a very old enemy that would never have left them alone...he and Melfina had come a long way since then, Suzuka had found herself on and off of the ship regularly, much like Jim had become now; a part-time member of the crew with a life to live of his own. He was actually kind of glad in this result since Jim didn't have to experience it...a near-death state and then a sudden awakening.

No...no that would've been too cruel even for someone as capable as Jim. His own thoughts were swallowing him whole, even while flying the ship on instinct and their heading was back to Heifong III, just for some down time. They'd dock and everyone would just gather their wits...for now he'd officially called off anything short of being a necessity like ship maintenance or cleaning. There was no need for everyone to be pushed off too hard, he found that it was bad enough and the way of things were just not going to be simple or going over.

It was rough and yet they were through it, so now it was just about the overall recovery. The true question was whether such a thing was actually redeemable given the quality of their survival...all on a whim's notice. Even the landing on the planet hadn't been real to Gene yet and while it sunk in that he and the others were still alive, he hadn't been able to get it out of his mind so yet; life could end in a flash just like that. As Gene set the final preps in for the ship to dock and had stopped, he decided not to leave just yet and took a moment to sit there and try and think clearly. There was no sure way to accept something in so short a period of time.

"Gene? What is it?" the soft voice of Melfina's, reflecting concern for Gene's well being. She had grown a great deal over the years that she'd been with Gene and yet there were still some things about him that she had yet to understand, between them there was little lost; but still that little that she try her hardest to understand.

At first Gene didn't answer her and instead gave her a little laugh, something weak and closer to the means of a nervous chuckle.

"Living...Melfina, that's what the problem is, I can't...understand it just yet." he wasn't sure if he was articulating himself properly right now, though he knew that there was no such way to be sure. You couldn't just make it clear in one moment now could you? He knew that his emotions were getting in the way as it was.

He offered a sigh after this, trying to think of a better way to explain it to the woman he loved, how did you explain that you weren't sure how to continue after being so easily crushed and having your life toyed with so easily? He had made sure that she wasn't exposed to the battle in any way by ensuring she stayed with the ship, she did not have to fight as he had that day and was now in the mental state one tended to suffer after a near-death, almost a denial of life in some way. Though for Gene it was more of a confusion that he couldn't explain.

The sense looming over the rest of the XGP crew seemed to be very stolid flow of emotions is what appeared to be causing those along the ship to feel uneven. It was to this end that those on the ship realized that one had to come with terms, to each their own...and in some way that it would all even out at some point. It was just a matter of focus and realizing that life went on. The looming Nocturne was not something to be linger on, but instead to understand that finally the door on past threats could be closed; the time for worrying about the lost was no longer a threat.

There was no grand welcome for a long earned victory for the Outlaw Star, instead just a breezy and light-hearted welcome from those who knew Gene and his crew, those who were on and off constantly now. Gene and Jim's business had grown to a stable point that supporting themselves and paying back what they owed Fred (finally!) was only a matter of time. Doors had opened and closed behind each individual memory and for Aisha her doors to a bright future had opened.

Free of her business on Blue Heaven, Aisha was once more in the free open space and life of settling down awaited...right? Hardly! As the nature of a Ctarl Ctarl was anything if not predicting.

-With Aisha and Haomaru-

"Hee...you know Hao, if this keeps up I'll have changed you for good." her words whispered to the ear of her mate, while she loomed over his tuckered form. Though she noted he recovered quickly, she still pushed his stamina to his limits.

He rubbed under her chin with two fingers and leaned up to peck her lips. Though he wasn't surprised when she kissed him deeper than some small peck and drew back only when she was satisfied that she'd tasted his lips well enough.

"I believe that my principles may sooner change your heart than your wonderfully wild antics would change me my dear." his words still of a manner that teased.

For the two Ctarl Ctarls, they could move on as long as they had one another. It wasn't to say that it was just their union or the love they shared, but a bond that was greater than anything that could be grasped. Aisha saw this in Hao's eyes whenever she looked at those beautiful orbs and listened to the lotus-kissed lips of her samurai. It was how a heart that was blessed by the talent and age of old could be so wonderfully wrapped into a single package and given to her by fate on a silver platter.

She thought about their first hapless meeting and how if he had not come to that table and been a customer of hers, then this very minute she would be serving plates and washing dishes. There...instead of here with her right now. What could she could do with this feeling of ache but to ignore it, that was not her fate! She was here now and in a loving relationship that she had to open his eyes to.

"Silly Hao...to think that you never acted on what you felt, because of some goofy mannerisms you learned. What ever am I going to do with you?" she said with a catty grin, pressing her claws gently into his chest and scratching down his flesh, raking it lightly while looking into his eyes.

It too was within this same light that Haomaru reflected on his past and how he made it here. A life of wandering from place to place by a ship, this seemed to be that he was working his mind and heart in that right. Following the way of the sword wherever it took him and never once backing down off of the path he took. He challenged the authorities, space pirates, assassins, even the hand of the legendary Lord Hazanko who had fallen some years back to the skilled (and lucky) hands of Gene Starwind.

Had he not taken that cargo ship to Blue Heaven and stepped into the restaurant trying to escape his pursuers the the love of his life would never have been here. The way that he acted, as the chaste maiden...in the eyes of his beautiful Aisha. Who even now was mocking his 'uptight' attitude and ways of speech. Of how he never bathed alone with her as she wished when they were visiting the hot springs planet of Tenrei. Had he missed a single beat of their time together he would not be holding her now and making love with this beauty of the heavens. His stellar light that guided his humble soul into a haven now.

Even as he came out of his thoughts now, all he caught was the tail-end of her comment, once more mocking him in a light hearted manner the way that only she could.

"...and the last thought from you that day was that I remember was 'It is not proper for a samurai to bathe with a lady present, even if there is no other spring nearby'." she looked at his face and gained one look of skepticism, he'd been in his head once again hadn't he?

As he opened his lips to speak, she already decided that she wouldn't hear it and pressed her lips to his firmly. Locking their mouths together and slipping her tongue into his lips, there was no time for a retort. It seemed plenty clear what she decided with this move and how she moved her body, wriggling against him and grinding her waist firmly into his.

She wouldn't have anymore of it, no thinking, no talking, no telling, no begging...just action out of him. There was going to be only one move from him and that was from his heart and hers meeting in part, there would be only the embrace of love and passion from him. She would have them on the same level and in the same place...there would be sync and there would be love. A most vibrant love that would outshine the stars and kiss the midlight dimming space around the cosmos.

(-Warning: Mature Content ahead-)

The thoughts of Aisha's rested on the loving that she'd be giving to her mate, just how hard she was would show anything pent up. She had enough of all of it, from the momentary thoughts of despair to all of the feelings of remembering the horror from before...why remember at all sometimes? She put it to question and forced her lover down forcefully, pressing him to the bed and biting on the side of his neck and then letting him look upon her body; drawing back as she showed him all that was in her glory. The body that only _he_ would be allowed to touch and to feel pleasuring him into his oblivion of bliss. She would see no other eye him in that fashion, this thought very clear from the first time he'd agreed to become her lover.

Haomaru lay beneath her in a daze, something that he could only identify as a kind of halo...what other word came to mind was the thought of hazy, he had barely been allowed to breath let alone gather a thought. The way her lips sealed his off had left him feeling euphoric and of course he would survive longer than a human without breath, but even that had him on the panic in slight. This thing he knew all well as something that Aisha would not only sense but also act upon when she held him. The prey that needed to be devoured by his predator.

"Pathetic aren't you? Well I've had enough." she said with a hiss, a big grin that was something almost in the line of her anger, though the excited look spoke volumes of what she felt now. A burrowing excitement from the very center of her figure that was reaching out and demanding that she treated it.

Then it happened, Hao's member was raised by her tail a moment before she promptly fell down on his shaft. The grunt of slight pain from Haomaru only brought her more pleasure as she had let off a pleasured mew. Sometimes nice and rough was a way to deal with all of the tension that had built up within either of their bodies. She jumped into action almost literally as she let him get used to her clenching only for a moment before her hips rose in that instant, immediately finding her way back to the base of his length.

It was intense from the moment she had chosen to begin, as by now all he felt was a powerful clinch hold on his cathood, just the knowing feeling of a wonderful pulsing and a caressing heat that groped him each time it descended upon him. The delicious feeling of being engulfed completely had devoured his will to think and his want to know. What was going on? He no longer knew or cared, all that his dulled senses told him was that he was holding onto the curvy and powerful hips of his lover as she rose and descended upon him. For those moments that he took to find his way bearings as she found herself back to the base of his length were two different actions all together. There was a only a powerful hammering of her hips as she came down and he yowled gently.

How it was to her was nothing short of deliciously fed pleasure, the feeling of his member's pulsing inside of her ignited a tireless flame that pushed her actions and there was she, an unstoppable dynamo in action to do one thing: claim all that she could from her mate in each moment. No matter how he squirmed or clenched his hands around her told her anything more than the fact that she needed more. His writhing in pleasure was a delight to her and something that she prided herself on, having her mate be this breathless...this lost in passion...this lost in what was happening. And the reason was very simple: at her action, at her whim. She could control all that he felt when they bonded and it was something that she loved.

They'd made love the previous half-hour and somehow it wasn't enough for her. In that action they'd come by one thing that she had not only desired, but craved to know: that not only did he love her, but they loved each other and were together in the soul. It was the most truth that she had needed within the past hour and this was her way of affirming this as a fact. How could it get any more or less better for her right? She found there was no answer, nor did she care right now. The love had been there and now everything else came.

As another heavenly silence was filled with harsh slaps and slams of flesh against flesh, the Ctarl Ctarl vigorously worked herself into a hot sweat as she stopped bucking onto him and was now grinding him hard. Keeping her hips descending at a nice hot pace, short and powerful thrusts while she ground against his shaft base and then pulled up harshly, gripping him firmly and riding him for all he was worth. She was not doing this to hurt him...no they'd experimented in the past and she knew he could handle this level of her strength, even now with the half moon being about and her tail having been present, her need for savageness was controlled. Since she had long learned what it took to keep herself in line and better yet in bed with her mate, she could use all of that gained stamina to drag this out. No...in fact she was sure where she had him by now, halfway between torture and an unquenchable heated lust for more.

She was giving him the latter, as she rode of her pain and doubts. Everything was going into this love of her action, she was not trying to push him to his brink...she was ridding herself of all of these useless feelings of the negative nature. She would be free and so would he as she drove him to a state of unconsciousness and once more...at her whim was all that mattered. All that was possible to see that her mind would be over such small things in a moment without waiting or thinking too hard and so it seemed to be working.

Each moment was different, each descent taken at another angle and mixed up, each thrust of her rump and each slam of her hips against his...there was a strange chaotic rhythm that had aligned both Ctarls in bliss. Was there a way to explain what she felt right now? Or was there only the way to have more of what both needed...the feelings of connection and their negative feelings thrown into a furnace to fuel their own heats. All of it began to blur and then jumped into streaks of light. Even Aisha had lost her mind to this madness, the madness that had claimed her mate at the very beginning of this love they were sharing.

All she felt was this wish to continue growing hotter and her pace growing faster, something that was like tempered steel seemed to be giving her thoughts that she hadn't a moment before; completion in an instant. And just like that as if everything had come to a sudden and harsh halt, Aisha's shrill cat yowl was joined by her mate's weaker voice as she felt his essence filling her. A sudden collapse onto his chest was imminent and seemed to all come to that finish as she only _felt_ the result of his overactive heartbeat and the feeling of his chest trying to heave for the breath. Her nectar had long since mixed with his heat and had helped make the mess that she was all too familiar with. Did she need anything else? She thought otherwise...no, they only needed the moment.

As for Hao, all of the things that happened were nothing that was clear, there were too many lights that he saw now. These of indescribable color and designs...so many waving and flitting about before his eyes; be they opened or closed he saw nothing else. Just a completely whole filled feeling, this was what he felt inside and there was nothing shorter than the pleased look on his face that remained. No...plastered on his face was more like it, something that made Aisha smirk at. It was _she_ that had done all of _this_ to her mate.

(-End Mature Content-)

There had been no words between the two felines as they lay in their embrace and the content feeling between either of them. Sleep was seeming like a much better option with every passing breath and to Aisha's knowledge her lover was long since there.

"Sleep well...you gooftball.." she said as she shut her eyes for the last time, laying against his chest and eventually drifting off as she held onto his body.

The two had left it at this alone...they were much like the rest of the XGP crew, trying to find some kind of a solution to their feelings. Even though the evil pirate lord had once more been sent to the great beyond there was something looming about and some kind of an outcome that remained very clear: what now? This was not a thing to just say goodbye to because it had been ended...no this was something they would see completed now on their end before leaving it alone. Gene wasn't sure exactly what he decided needed to happen but he'd do what he could time it at least.

Nothing more than a few minutes with thoughts in his head, before the thought of Elise...something that this had all to do with. Elise had done something right? He only saw it for an instant since Hazanko had left each of them in their own blood puddles. It had not been a very fun sight...the feeling he couldn't remember since something soothed him. He'd heard some kind of a peaceful cry or voice before suddenly all was better. What could be done to understand it more..?

But now was hardly the time since as far as he knew she still slept and so did Y'tue, the kid that she had fallen in love with at some point. Well...it happened and this was the way of the things carrying out. How to deal with it..? That was what was important in the final piece of this line. When she woke they were to speak and then maybe some answers would clear up.

(End Chapter)

Sorry bout all of the lag on this story, I've decided to try and finish this quickly ahead, but so many things (life basically) getting in the way. Not to worry, my efforts are clearly towards this and I will not let it grow to stop me; I will take care of it all at once. We near the final conclusion and yes I assure that all of the danger is out, just some last minute things to seal away. It's high time I helped this story to its finish, so I will do just that. Expect another chapter soon!

Till then adieu

-Quentix


	23. Chapter: Feline's Final Fallen Blade

A/N: Finally wrapping up this long dragged out tale, indeed this story has come a long way and I owe it to this story to finish it up, here it is now, the final chapter before the Epilogue; let it be that this wonderful story is given its moment of clarity. Without further adieu, I present you with Chapter 23. Enjoy!

(End A/N)

Chapter 23: Feline Sword's Final Fall: A crew forever bonded

It seemed far and few in between as the XGP crew took their time off, it was something of a week or two spent on break. With strange sources providing them with plenty of loot for the mysterious end of the Kei Pirate Lord once again, they would all be able to live comfortably with their minds in focus. Still living the life of an Outlaw, but looking for the light that followed. It was time to decide, would they all stay together? Go their separate ways? As this new chapter had rapidly approached them, the concluding battle in which the proper forces were walking away from. The big question was very simple to put forward: what now?

Everyone took their time, unsure of what to do. Spending their time in port, having fun and good times that followed; but it almost seemed lacking...as if the greatest fear or pain was now the great separation. Was it time? Gene was one of those who briefly thought about it.

He had no idea where to place this or the time they'd spent together so far. It had been a hell of a wild ride. Exposure to more and more action than he'd had in the past couple of years, most of it tied directly to the Ctarl Ctarl that came right back into his life with a bang. It was in a way that he had not hoped to find life could still be: full of troubles of a haunting past. But that door had closed along with the final end of the destructive lord of the Kei Pirates.

"To think that crazy bastard still wanted to rule beyond the grave." Gene couldn't do much more than verbally comment on it, while he slipped back along the pilot's seat; it was one place he liked to be whenever lacking any focus of thoughts.

While the captain of the ship was left to his thoughts, pacing back and forth in the small room that he and Elise shared after the battle; the young protege of the Half Ctarl Ctarl felt his mind swirling over many a thought. Now that he and Elise had more or less sealed a future together, he had no less intention other than fulfilling what he felt that she deserved: giving her a happy life. While her mother was caring for her sleepy daughter, this left him time to think and try to focus on what he would do within the immediate future.

-With Y'tue, in the training hall-

Had it not been for the long sleep endured, Y'tue might have more in mind than just haze. But this was expected given the long need for rest, after all the amazing powers of healing that Elise showed at the end of the battle with Lord Hazanko; there was really nothing less to be expected. She had come a long way in a short period, it was just another reason that he tried to see what he had to offer. What could he give towards a space legend and her daughter who was now mated to him? He could offer his love...fondness that had been born through their interactions was a fact, he had been quickly infatuated with Elise; but it had to be more than fondness. She deserved no less and her mother would likely have nothing less than that.

Perhaps this was why he questioned his worth towards Elise, this had been something up for debate from the time that she'd brought them together through actions. It was just one of the many thoughts leading his mind, the future with Elise and with Hilda; he imagined this would lead to marriage down the line. So many things in a future that he had not expected, but he felt oddly happy at the almost ordinary future ahead of him; he had stumbled upon his old master by sheer happenstance and this was the result!

An explosive time being introduced to the legendary crew of the XGP, meeting one of the oldest legends still roaming space it seemed, meeting the enchanting daughter of that legend (later becoming her mate); the universe certainly could make one's head spin. How else could he think to describe it? While the feline was in thought, he'd never noticed the approach of someone behind him.

"So kid, what's on your mind?" the question asked as politely as it would ever be by Hilda, who stood watching his every action as he thought about things.

Startled at first by the sudden appearance, it took some minor control to not draw his sword; which he had been in the habit of doing with happenings of this kind. Though once he saw that it was Hilda, he forced himself to calm down as the last thing he desired was some kind of conflict with her. After all, even though he believed in the sword; his blade was not as refined as his master's own. He had come a long way along the path and yet still was only just discovering what it was that could be done.

"C'mon kid, out with it already, you look haunted. So you gonna talk or should I help you talk?" the threat wasn't idly, as Hilda would loosen his tongue even if she had to put a little hurt on him.

It was one thing that annoyed her about this kind, this unique 'honor-bound' sword kind of guys. This was why they didn't exist very well in this age, it was hard to believe this junk was still practiced; but she imagined that if he was still alive then it was because he could handle himself. She didn't underestimate a person just because they had some silly beliefs: it was just whatever worked for them. That was the way she looked at it, being the no nonsense kind of person that she was.

"I was just thinking about our life together: yours, Elise, and my own. As it would have it now, fate has brought us together and this will change how we live our lives. I am not really sure how to take it, but I will make Elise happy no matter what." this was all that mattered to him, her daughter's happiness was the biggest thing in his life now.

He would of course try to change, to grow with the times, maybe alter some methods he chose to make life easier. But of course there was nothing more lost in his words: it was direct and held his point up like a candle in darkness.

She grinned at him and patted his shoulder, that was exactly what she had hoped he'd say. He wasn't trying to suck up to her or win her over, the realm of concern was where it mattered.

"Good answer, kid. I was worried I might have to school you in who to be worrying about. You and my daughter are together now, if you ever hurt her; just know you'll be dealing with me. Elise is now in my life and I couldn't care about who or what dares to try to harm her, only if they think they can walk away breathing afterward." Hilda was evenly as blunt as the Ctarl halfbreed, she wouldn't stand for her daughter's emotions being hurt.

If Hilda had been anything, she was very to the point and utterly ruthless where it counted most of all, and her daughter was one of those things she'd kill over. Y'tue did not have any illusions about anything involving his new mate.

"So are you staying with the crew here?"

"Don't you mean aren't 'we' staying with the crew? and why ask a stupid question, this ship was mine before Starwind got it; this hasn't changed one bit. Someone's got to make sure that stupid greenhorn doesn't get her shot up anymore." the intentions were simple; while Hilda had the Horus II at her disposal, she had no qualms about having it only as a secondary ship of sorts. She'd leave it here with a friend, make sure it was cared for and up to date; if ever they needed back-up, they'd have it with the automated functions on board her fine experimental ship.

There was a moment of quiet between the two of them, before it was broken by a happy sounding cry. Something that broke out from behind them, though in mid-turn, Y'tue was quickly overtaken by an excited Elise. She had pounced him over and was sitting on his stomach, her ears twitching happily as she leaned down to peck his lips.

"W-We're staying..I'm so happy! I really hoped that we wouldn't have to leave Mr. Starwind, your crazy teacher and his mate. They are just wonderful to be near, I really hope that I can learn to use a sword!" she was just speaking everything on her mind, to point it seemed to clear away any issue of what she wanted.

The look in her eyes spoke all of it to him: She wanted her mate to teach her the way of the sword.

While Hilda rolled her eyes, the conditions already settled in her mind, she spoke the next words that would be the 'law' of hers on the matter.

"As long as you still use a blaster, I don't expect all my training to go to waste, you here me Elise? This is non-negotiable. He can teach you to use a damned sword, but you are certainly going to keep using those blasters, charges, and every other device like I taught you. If you want, make sure that they are as polished as your sword skill." she made the verdict.

That was all it took for Elise to squeal happily and start rambling happily, looking down at Y'tue with such a sweet innocence. It made it almost hard to believe that she had beatened Lord Hazanko, that with all of his power he could not stop the Leyline Sera...this beautiful girl that was no more or less older than himself. She held a mysterious power deep down inside, and no one else would know the better of it.

While Hilda watched over the two youths, she smiled secretly and turned away, the universe did still need her...it gave a second chance it would allow her to watch her daughter grow up. While she'd never say thank you, even in secret; it was no secret that she would not pass the opportunity up, the chance to see her sweet angel grow into a young woman and to look after the foolish boy that was her mate. It seemed the universe was offering her a chore, well that was just fine with her, she already had another; being a part of this crew and taking care of Starwind's foolishness.

-With Gene and Melfina-

Certainly by now he'd had enough time to think over what had come to pass, still he was left partway in thought at an impasse. He couldn't seem to come to terms with how lucky they'd been this time, had Hilda's daughter not been so special...each of them would've been destroyed. Probably left to suffer in some kind of an eternal hell prison conjured up by the devilish Hazanko's will.

_'Damn...I must be one lucky bastard, never running out of luck when it really counts.'_ even in mind, he knew his luck had yet to run out.

No matter how good someone could be, it did not alter the fact that luck could come in and spare them many a problem. He...was one such person who had lady luck paying him visits like wildfire sometimes. He knew that such luck made him special and just might come back to bite him: that was his current focus...what and when.

"Gene? Are you in there?" the soft voice of the XGP's chief navigator and the love in his life brought him back to reality.

The moment the soft black locks twisted over her face, her features currently filled with some concern over the deep thought of Gene's. She had watched him since the moment they docked, in this deep thought, and it seemed so unlike him.

"Yeah, I'm in here Melfina. Sorry about worrying you...just thinking." by now he knew when he'd worried her, it was something that she didn't bother trying to hide.

He hated to worry her, she took it so personally, as it was just her nature to react in a way that was strong...deeper than even a human could. At least that was what Gene thought of anyway. There was not way that he'd let her worry about him, sure enough it was the thing he'd desired least.

"Gene, do you want to talk about?" the best to ease her nerves was to offer her ear to the one dearest to her heart.

"I-sure...yeah, it might be better just to hear it spoken aloud." rubbing the side of his head, he decided not to hide it from her.

In anticipation for the subject's length, she moved next to his side and sat down in a nearby seat.

"Well, I'll cut to the chase Melfina. Frankly, I don't know how to feel after something like that...I mean how we just managed to survive against that monster. He was a god...even if for that minute, we were reduced to nothing but bloody piles of quivering flesh. Yet luck was on our side, I can't believe it, I mean of all of the tight spots in my life that one is where I felt death creeping upon me. I could see something Mel, I saw the light and felt my body getting that deathly chill just before you die." the tone at which he spoke bordered nerve-wracked, despite the facade he'd put up for everyone else upon docking; this raw almost terror had him clutched tightly within its grip.

Still listening, Melfina had put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with some subtle worry. Was this what was eating at him inside? He hid things well, she'd learned this from being alongside him all of these years; since their first scrap with the destructive Kei Lord. All of the Tao Magic in the world had not saved him then, but upon his return in battle they had narrowly been ended in a single sweep of his will. An effortless battle that had somehow been turned against him, by a single girl in a moment of despair. The concept seemed unfathomable and in that instant she knew just what he was feeling.

"I guess what I'm saying Mel is, how in the hell...do you feel after something like that? I mean magically recovered? All of my wounds closed and my body suddenly functioning, I felt it...and then nothing." he slammed his fist against the back of the seat he was in. His frustration at the miracle event had not faded any of his other emotions, it was simply entwined so intricately with them all; he wasn't sure what he should be doing with it.

"I don't know Gene, I don't know how to feel after seeing all of you recover magically. I just...I can feel her power, this was the will of the Leyline Sera. Had she not been there, we would've been destroyed and Hazanko would have shattered the universe with his new power. We would likely be in an oblivion that he spoke of and I don't know honestly what I think of something like that." she spoke as if it were an easy thing to grasp.

Gene turned to her and took her into his arms and squeezed her tightly, what was he supposed to do with these emotions? He felt like a marionette that had lost its puppeteer, he was lost in a dark void with only Melfina's love...her presence; her very being to keep him from being swallowed. He shut his eyes tightly, not shedding tears...but gripping her with every single bit of a true feeling that surged through his heart and soul. He couldn't focus and had simply been with one thought in mind, that she was everything to him. He would not breathe without this angel here in his arms. But he lacked the words or the capacity to say such to her, so he held her with all he was worth.

With nothing that could help the legendary outlaw in this situation he had abandoned himself to his feelings and just embraced Melfina. As the hours passed, the day faded into obscurity for the crew, entwined in their very passions or lost emotions.

_This day forever to be remembered._

-Two days later-

As Gene stood at the port, looking at all of his old friends that had returned for this voyage, he sighed a little sadly; this was where they parted ways now, wasn't it? There would be no big good byes, just one final word from him before he left them in port and took off into space once again.

"Well...I guess this is it eh? We go our separate ways this day and all this time, I started getting used to you again." he let off a grin, raising his left hand with his index finger extended and his thumb raised in a gun-style gesture; saying that he'd see them around.

As Suzuka turned from Gene, she smiled calmly to herself and offered no words of good bye. It was doubtful that this was the last meeting that Gene Starwind would have with the 'Twilight' Blade assassin. As she disappeared into the busy spaceport, he turned to watch the others leave, the general thought that everyone was leaving.

to his surprise, the majority of the felines and Hilda were standing there, looking at him intently. What the hell did they want now?

"So...you guys are all going...too?" no sooner had he finished the word, did Hilda give him a blank stare.

"Are you honestly that stupid, Starwind? Who the hell said I'd leave you with _my ship _once again, eh? You're a total baka if you think I would allow you to damage it, ruin it, or the gods know what else you've done to it over the years. Me, my daughter, and this cat are staying with your idiotic ass. After all someone's gonna need to keep this baby together." her words hadn't even begun to sink into the Outlaw Star's captain, before Aisha spoke up.

"What a moron you are, Starwind. I decided long ago that I wasn't leave you again, after all of this crap we've been through, you still owe me! So me and Hao are staying right here. Besides, I could think of no better place than to raise my child." she spoke these words proudly, rubbing her stomach proudly before feeling her mate's arm curl around her waist from behind her.

Haomaru rubbed the side of his head with his free hand and stroked gently over his mate's stomach, kissing the back of her ear.

"Well, that's the verdict, Captain Starwind. I hope you don't mind our company." this was all he had to say, before his entire attention had come back onto Aisha; while he let his other arm curl gently around her waist.

Gene was dumbfounded for a second, before he'd started to get annoyed at them.

"Now wait here just a-"

"Kyaa! I'm so excited, we get to go on more space adventures!" Elise happilly jumped up and down, holding onto Y'tue gently.

"Who the hell sai-"

"Thank you Starwind-san, this is a great honor. I will guard this ship with my sword, you have the word of Y'tue QlanQlan."

"Hey!"

"Glad to see you're so excited moron. Now get this baby in gear, we're not leaving yet, but I'll see you learn enough about space travel yet!" Hilda said with a hearty slap on his back, while she stepped past him and returned into the ship.

Following suit Aisha led Haomaru after Elise and Y'tue, as everyone seemed to just make their place; Gene was left outside with no say in the matter. It seemed that if anything, he never had a say in the matter no matter how it seemed to go. It was not all that surprising though...inside he had been hopeful that they'd stay.

Gene smirked and looked up at the sky, sure enough his father would be happy to realize that he really did have a worthy crew.

"Hey Dad...thanks for everything." his words were gentle and relayed his sweetest sentiment towards one of the few people in life that he'd ever show it for.

As he headed back into the XGP, he paid one last look to the sky before he let his fingers brush back through his hair; life was wonderful for a change; the crew were one...bonded, forever.

See ya later, Outlaw.

(End Chapter)

And I hope that you've enjoyed this little trip through a faithful flight of love, here the final chapter as the crew remains together...forever.


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